12?? 


THE    MAKING 


OF 


OUR    MIDDLE    SCHOOLS 

AN   ACCOUNT   OF 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


BY 


ELMER   ELLSWORTH   BROWN,  PH.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF    THE    THEORY    AND    PRACTICE   OF    EDUCATION    IN    THE 
UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 


THHID    ED1TJON- 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO, 

FOURTH  AVENUE  &  30TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

LONDON,  BOMBAY  AND  CALCUTTA 

1910 


38 


COPYRIGHT,  1902,  BY 
LONGMANS,  GREEN,  AND  CO. 

All  rights  reserved 


First  edition,  January,  1903 

Reprinted  (revised),  March,  1905 

Third  edition,  August,  1907 

Repiiated,  August,  1910 


UNIVERSITY    PRESS    •    JOHN   WILSON 
AND    SON     .     CAMBRIDGE,     U.S.A. 


TO    MY    WIFE 


254598 


PREFACE 

IN  undertaking  to  write  this  book  it  was  my  desire  to  make 
some  small  contribution  to  the  history  of  American  civiliza- 
tion. The  outcome  of  the  effort  I  have  not  ventured  to 
dignify  with  the  high  title  of  History.  But,  whatever  its 
shortcomings,  I  am  hopeful  that  it  may,  at  least  provision- 
ally, fill  a  gap  in  the  literature  of  American  education. 

While  the  need  of  such  a  work  was  first  suggested  to  me 
by  experience  with  university  classes,  it  was  not  specifically 
a  text-book  that  I  set  out  to  write.  It  seemed  desirable, 
rather,  to  prepare  a  book  for  two  classes  of  readers :  First, 
for  such  as  are  making  or  are  disposed  to  make  a  serious 
study  of  American  education  in  its  process  of  development ; 
and,  secondly,  for  such  "  general  readers "  as  may  seek  an 
acquaintance  with  our  educational  annals,  for  any  of  the 
thousand  reasons  which  guide  general  readers  in  their  choice 
of  books.  A  work  prepared  for  readers  of  these  two  groups 
seemed  likely  to  make  a  better  text-book  than  one  intended 
to  serve  as  a  text-book  and  nothing  else. 

In  the  time  at  my  disposal  it  would  have  been  possible 
to  present  a  more  adequate  "  intensive  "  study  of  some  single 
stage  of  our  educational  development.  This  rather  extensive 
work  has  been  undertaken  instead,  with  deliberate  purpose. 
We  seem  to  have  reached  a  point,  in  our  studies  of  American 
educational  history,  where  a  comprehensive  view  is  needed, 
for  the  betterment  of  our  special  monographs,  if  for  no  other 
reason.  Probably  such  a  point  is  reached,  sooner  or  later, 
in  every  branch  of  historical  research.  But  such  a  work  as 
this  aims  to  be  is  needed,  too,  for  the  betterment  of  schools. 


viii  PREFACE 

Our  secondary  education  is  expanding  wonderfully,  and  is 
making  and  meeting  new  problems ;  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
past,  while  it  cannot  answer  new  questions,  can  prompt  wise 
men  to  answer  them  prudently  and  great-heartedly. 

The  setting  of  limits,  which  has  been  found  necessary  all 
along,  has  brought  up  repeatedly  the  question  of  selection 
among  the  materials  available,  and  the  closely  related  ques- 
tion of  proportions  among  the  materials  used.  It  will  doubt- 
less be  found  that  many  things  have  been  omitted  which 
were  worthy  in  every  way  of  a  place  with  those  which  have 
been  mentioned.  I  must  crave  indulgence  for  any  mistakes 
of  this  kind  which  may  appear.  It  would  be  well-nigh  im- 
possible to  avoid  them  altogether. 

One  difficulty  of  an  exceptional  sort  has  been  that  of 
keeping  New  England,  and  especially  Massachusetts,  from 
occupying  more  than  its  share  of  the  book.  Whenever  an 
illustration  of  some  good  educational  movement  is  needed, 
Massachusetts  appears  with  a  conspicuous  example.  At 
almost  every  call  her  hand  goes  up  among  the  first.  I  can- 
not wonder  at  President  Draper's  remark  that  other  states 
need  "  the  help  of  Massachusetts  men  to  tell  the  story." 

But  this  prominence,  it  appears,  is  due  not  only  to  the 
telling,  but  to  the  story  as  well.  When  one  has  seen  how 
widely  the  educational  ideas  of  New  England  have  been 
spread  abroad,  west  and  south,  all  through  our  history,  and 
how  many  men  of  both  the  South  and  the  West  and  the 
lands  that  lie  between  have  been  directly  influenced  by  New 
England  education,  there  appears  less  objection  to  the  fre- 
quent recurrence  of  New  England  names  in  such  a  record 
as  this.  That  section  of  our  land  has  had  indeed  a  notable 
educational  history.  I  have  tried  to  do  it  proportionate 
justice  without  obscuring  the  greatness  of  the  educational 
influence  which  has  gone  forth  from  other  centres. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  volume  I  have  received  help 
from  many  sources,  for  which  I  desire  to  express  the  hearti- 


PREFACE 


IX 


est  thanks.  My  indebtedness  extends  to  so  many  that  I 
refrain,  though  very  reluctantly,  from  attempting  individual 
acknowledgment.  The  Regents  of  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia granted  me  leave  of  absence  with  a  view  particularly 
to  the  writing  of  the  book.  I  had  already  made  a  number 
of  preliminary  studies,  extending  over  several  years,  in  which 
members  of  my  graduate  seminar  had  given  me  valuable 
assistance.  At  twenty  libraries,  east  and  west,  I  have  re- 
ceived numberless  courtesies,  which  have  aroused  in  me  the 
highest  admiration  for  the  New  American  Librarian  —  both 
type  and  individual.  Like  every  one  else  who  has  written 
on  American  schools,  I  have  received  much  valuable  infor- 
mation from  the  Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington,  to- 
gether with  some  part  of  that  finer  help  which  for  many 
years  has  been  going  forth  from  our  Commissioner's  office. 
Many  other  school  men,  and  women,  have  helped  me,  some 
of  them  members  of  the  universities,  and  many  of  them 
principals  and  teachers  of  our  secondary  schools.  I  am 
deeply  grateful  to  them  all. 

ELMER  ELLSWORTH  BROWN. 
NEW  YORK,  May  31,  1902. 


NOTE  TO   THE   SECOND   EDITION 

THE  issuance  of  a  second  edition  of  this  work  has  offered 
an  opportunity  of  correcting  a  few  errors  which  have  been 
discovered  in  the  first  edition.  No  general  revision  has, 

however,  been  undertaken. 

E.   E.   B. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 
January  5,  1905. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE vii 

CHAPTER 

I.    INTRODUCTION 1 

II.    THE  GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND  .     .  12 

III.  EARLY  COLONIAL  GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS    ....  31 

IV.  COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 60 

V.    LATER  COLONIAL  SCHOOLS 79 

VI.    COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      .     .  107 
VII.    COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  AND  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRA- 
TION    128 

VIII.    THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES .     .  155 

IX.    EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES 179 

X.    EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION  204 

XI.    THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES     ....  228 

XII.    TEACHERS  AND  TEACHING 258 

XIII.  THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC  CONTROL     .     .  279 

XIV.  THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS 297 

XV.     SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS 

XVI.    LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS 

XVII.    RECENT  TENDENCIES 369 

XVIII.    RECENT  TENDENCIES  —  continued 393 

XIX.    NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES  ....  416 

XX.    THE  OUTLOOK  "...                         ...  436 


xii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

APPENDIX  A.    STATISTICS  OF  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS  .     .     .  467 

APPENDIX  B.    RECENT  SCHOOL  CURRICULUMS     ....  473 

APPENDIX  C.    BIBLIOGRAPHY 481 

I.    GENERAL 481 

II.    STATE  AND  LOCAL 488 

III.  INDIVIDUAL  INSTITUTIONS  ....  498 

IV.  BIOGRAPHY 515 

V.    PERIODICALS 518 

APPENDIX  D.    THE  FIRST  PUBLIC  HIGH  SCHOOLS  IN  THE 
160  CITIES  NOW  HAVING  OVER   25,000 

POPULATION 519 

INDEX    ,  523 


NOTE 

The  following   abbreviations   are  employed  in  foot-notes 
and  bibliography :  — 

Am.   Ed.  Hint,  for   Contributions  to    American   Educational   History, 

edited  by  Herbert  B.  Adams. 
Am.' Inst.  Instr.  for  The  Papers  Read  before  the  American  Institute  of 

Instruction,  with  the  Journal  of  Proceedings. 

Am.  Journ.  Ed.  for  [Barnard's]  The  American  Journal  of  Education. 
Circ.  Inf.  for  Circular  of  Information  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 

Education. 
Col.  Univ.  Contribs.  for  Columbia  University  Contributions  to  Philosophy, 

Psychology,  and  Education. 
Ed.  Rev.  for  Educational  Review. 
N.  A.  llev.  for  The  North  American  Review. 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.  for  The  Journal  of  Proceedings  and  Addresses  of  the 

National  Educational  Association. 
Rept.  Comr.   Ed.  for  report  of  the  [United  States]  Commissioner  of 

Education. 


THE  MAKING 


OF 


OUR    MIDDLE    SCHOOLS 


CHAPTER   I 
INTRODUCTION 

AMERICAN  institutions  are  an  expression  of  American  char- 
acter. The  making  of  that  character  and  the  making  of 
those  institutions  can  hardly  be  thought  of  as  distinct 
processes.  They  are  different  aspects  of  one  process,  and 
neither  of  them  can  be  understood  apart  from  the  other. 
We  are  to  look  into  this  twofold  development  as  it  appears 
in  the  records  of  American  education. 

The  schools,  in  general,  have  occupied  an  interme- 
diate position  between  church  and  state,  responding 
always  to  influences  from  both  sides,  but  affected  chiefly 
in  earlier  times  by  ecclesiastical  considerations  and  in  later 
times  chiefly  by  considerations  of  a  political  character ;  and 
at  all  times  they  have  been  open  to  influences  of  a  more 
diffusive  sort,  economic,  literary,  and,  broadly  speaking, 
social.  Of  the  schools,  too,  the  secondary  schools  occupy  an 
intermediate  position :  they  have  been  influenced  by  educa- 
tional institutions  and  educational  processes  both  above 
them  and  below.  This  fact  adds  much  to  the  difficulty  of 
the  present  inquiry,  but  in  adding  to  its  difficulty  adds  also 
to  its  interest. 

It  is,  perhaps,  sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  define  secondary 
education  roughly  as  education  of  a  higher  stage  than  that 
of  the  elementary  school  and  lower  than  that  of  institutions 
authorized  to  give  academic  degrees.  This  definition  gives 

i 


2        '      "HE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

no  clean-cut  boundaries ;  but  historically  the  limits  of 
secondary  education  are  shadowy  and  variable.  We  find 
occasionally  secondary  schools  which  take  young  pupils 
through  the  first  steps  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  have  seen  institutions  authorized  to 
give  degrees,  and  actually  giving  degrees,  when  their  courses 
of  instruction  were  hardly  sufficient  to  fit  their  graduates 
for  admission  to  the  best  degree-giving  institutions.  All 
such  instances  as  these  must  be  regarded  as  variations  from 
the  type  and  not  as  themselves  determining  the  type.  The 
definition  proposed  is  inexact  for  another  reason.  The 
standards  of  one  generation  differ  from  those  of  earlier  and 
later  generations.  There  are  doubtless  high  schools  of  the 
present  day  which  offer  a  more  generous  course  of  instruc- 
tion than  did  the  leading  colleges  of  a  century  ago.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  has  been  a  marked  tendency  within  the 
past  century  to  extend  the  scope  of  elementary  instruction. 
It  happens  that  in  one  school  the  studies  commonly  pursued 
in  secondary  schools  are  begun  two  or  three  years  earlier 
than  in  some  neighboring  institution  where  the  pupils' 
progress  in  the  work  assigned  them  is  equally  rapid. 

In  the  course  of  its  development,  the  American  secondary 
school  has  got  wedged  in  between  the  elementary  school 
and  the  college,  each  of  which  has  developed  independently, 
without  any  such  check  or  bar.  So  the  education  that  wej 
commonly  call  secondary  covers  a  shorter  period  in  this 
country  than  in  other  leading  culture  lands.  The  prevailing 
usage  nowadays  in  the  United  States  assigns  eight  years 
to  the  elementary  school,  followed  by  four  years  in  the 
secondary  school ;  and  that  in  turn  followed  by  four  years 
in  the  college,  with  the  bachelor's  degree  at  the  end  of  the 
course :  this  with  many  occasional  and  local  variations. 
The  pupil  is  supposed  to  begin  his  secondary  schooling  at 
about  the  age  of  fourteen.  In  colonial  times  the  length  of 
the  secondary  school  course  was  about  the  same  as  now, 
though  more  variable,  but  pupils  often  entered  the  second- 
ary school  much  earlier  than  is  now  customary.  It  should 


INTRODUCTION  3 

be  added  that  where  the  normal  age  for  the  beginning  of 
secondary  school  studies  is  fourteen,  the  average  age  of  the 
actual  beginners  is  considerably  higher. 

The  method  of  definition  of  secondary  education  followed 
by  Dr.  Harris  in  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  is 
based  upon  the  studies  pursued.  The  classic  languages, 
algebra,  geometry,  the  natural  sciences,  the  history  of  other 
countries  than  our  own,  and  certain  other  subjects,  are 
treated  as  of  secondary  grade;  and  students  who  are  pur- 
suing three  such  subjects  are  counted  as  secondary-school 
students.  This  is  a  simple  and  workable  method  of  classi- 
fication, based  upon  the  common  practice  of  our  schools. 

Back  of  these  definitions,  however,  lie  theoretical  consider- 
ations. There  is  a  stage  in  mental  development,  above  the 
empirical  stage  and  below  the  philosophical,  which  may  be 
called  the  scientific.  The  grade  of  education  correspond- 
ing to  this  intermediate  stage  may,  quite  naturally,  be 
called  secondary,  that  below  it  being  called  primary,  and 
that  above  it,  higher.  The  primary  or  elementary  division 
deals  mainly  with  things  in  their  unessential  relationships, 
their  resemblances  and  differences,  their  collocation  in  space, 
and  their  orderly  arrangement  in  temporal  series.  It  rises, 
to  be  sure,  to  general  ideas,  but  hardly  arrives  at  logical 
definition  of  its  ideas.  The  secondary  division  deals  with 
ideas  more  clearly  defined ;  and  it  comes  to  an  understand- 
ing of  things  as  organized  into  coherent  systems  through 
the  operation  of  such  principles  as  those  of  mechanical 
causation  and  human  imitation.  These  principles  have 
already  become  familiar,  to  be  sure,  in  the  earlier  stage,  but 
not  in  their  larger  significance.  Higher  education  seeks, 
finally,  in  the  study  of  philosophy,  to  attain  to  a  complete 
comprehension  of  the  world,  viewing  it  in  the  light  of 
ultimate  principles. 

Secondary  education  accordingly  deals  with  language  not 
merely  by  way  of  employing  it  as  a  means  of  communication  ; 
but  looks  into  its  grammatical  structure  and  comes  to  an 
understanding  of  the  functions  and  interrelations  of  its 


4  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

several  parts.  The  student  is  set  free  from  the  distortions 
of  life-long  familiarity  by  a  comparison  of  the  forms  of 
his  mother  tongue  with  those  of  another  language  or  other 
languages.  His  practice  of  composition  is  organized  through 
the  regulative  principles  of  rhetoric.  His  knowledge  of 
literature  is  not  only  broadened  by  new  readings  in  the  best 
works  of  two  or  three  languages,  but  is  organized  by  a  study 
of  the  elements  of  literary  construction  and  also  of  the 
historical  development  of  the  several  languages  and  their 
literatures.  His  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  general  history 
is  likewise  extended,  and  the  comparison  of  the  histories  of 
different  peoples  helps  him  to  some  understanding  of  the 
connection  of  events  one  with  another  through  the  working 
of  social  influences.  His  knowledge  of  arithmetic  and 
mensuration  is  universalized  in  algebra  and  geometry ;  and 
his  fragments  of  information  concerning  natural  phenomena 
are  run  together  and  worked  over  into  some  semblance  of  a 
rounded  science.  It  is,  in  other  words,  the  business  of 
secondary  education  to  raise  all  subjects  which  it  touches 
to  the  plane  of  science,  by  bringing  all  into  the  point  of 
view  of  organizing  principles. 

The  distinction  between  elementary  and  secondary  educa- 
tion seems  to  carry  with  it  some  such  logical  implications 
as  have  been  indicated.  There  are  objective  facts  of  human 
development  upon  which  a  similar  distinction  may  be  based. 
Secondary  education  has  been  described  as  the  education 
of  adolescents.  The  comparatively  brief  period  assigned  to 
schools  of  this  grade  in  America  covers  only  an  earlier  stage 
of  adolescence,  but  that  is  a  stage  in  which  some  of  the 
most  decisive  changes,  physical  and  temperamental,  may 
be  expected  to  take  place.  Those  foreign  systems  which 
place  the  pupil  in  a  secondary  school  at  the  age  of  nine  or 
ten,  bring  together  children  and  adolescents  in  the  same 
educational  institution. 

Secondary  education,  regarded  as  the  education  of  adoles- 
cents, is  that  stage  in  which  the  brain  of  the  student,  after 
twelve  or  fourteen  years  of  slow  development,  is  for  the  first 


INTRODUCTION  5 

time  prepared  to  do  its  part  in  the  full  range  of  human 
activity  —  in  which  the  student  may  be  said  to  be  for  the 
first  time  in  full  possession  of  his  proper  complement  of 
human  capacities,  instincts,  and  modes  of  thought.  Begin- 
ning with  this  equipment,  secondary  education  carries  the 
student  forward  through  the  period  in  which  he  is  making 
the  mastery  over  his  new-found  self,  and  helps  him  to^ 
adjustment  with  his  new-found  world. 

The  interpretations  of  the  rational  and  the  physiological 
psychologist  show  what  was  dimly  apprehended  in  the  slow 
working  out  of  our  systems  of  secondary  education,  and 
propose  principles  for  guidance  in  future  reforms.  Another 
view,  which  has  more  or  less  consciously  influenced  our 
division  of  schools,  is  that  which  regards  education  in  its 
relation  to  the  organization  of  society.  Primary  education, 
from  this  standpoint,  is  the  education  needed  for  all ;  which, 
for  the  sake  of  the  general  good,  no  citizen  can  be  permitted 
to  do  without.  Beyond  this  is  the  region  of  difference,  of 
divergence,  and  it  may  be  added,  of  very  great  uncertainty 
and  dispute.  Occasionally  one  hears  the  prophecy  that 
what  we  call  secondary  education  will  eventually  be  an 
education  for  all.  It  is  now  the  lower  stage  of  the  educa- 
tion that  cannot  be  for  all,  and  the  stage  in  which  differ- 
entiation according  to  the  individual's  prospective  service 
to  society,  or  according  to  the  individual's  peculiar  tastes 
and  capacities,  or  according  to  both  of  these  together,  finds 
its  beginning.  Secondary  education  is  differentiated  educa- 
tion in  its  earlier  processes.  It  makes  the  preliminary 
survey  of  the  student's  special  aptitudes  and  capacities, 
with  a  view  to  discovering,  to  himself  and  to  those  interested 
in  his  future,  what  there  is  in  him  that  may  be  made  of 
most  worth  to  society,  and  so  most  serviceable  to  his  own 
self-realization. 

If  we  were  to  extend  our  historical  inquiry  so  as  to  cover 
everything  that  belongs  theoretically  to  the  secondary  stage 
of  education,  we  should  find  ourselves  overlapping  at  one 
time  the  higher  grades  of  our  elementary  schools  and  at 


6  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

another  time  the  lower  classes  of  the  colleges.  Secondary 
education  would  claim,  from  different  points  of  view,  varying 
amounts  of  the  adjacent  territory.  There  is  a  disposition 
at  present  to  increase  its  range  by  half,  or  even  double  it, 
by  annexing  to  it  two  years  or  thereabouts  from  the  course 
of  the  elementary  school  and  a  like  amount  from  that  of 
the  college.  This  change,  for  the  most  part,  has  been  made 
in  theory  only,  though  the  theory  has  found  some  partial 
embodiment  in  actual  school  organization.  If  we  were  to 
carry  such  theoretical  reconstruction  back  into  the  history 
of  our  schools,  this  account  of  the  development  of  secondary 
education  would  take  in  the  greater  part  of  our  college 
history  and  make  some  inroads  upon  the  history  of  our 
elementary  schools  as  well.  The  boundaries  of  the  subject 
are  vague  enough  at  best,  and  we  shall  avoid  further 
confusion  by  limiting  ourselves  to  the  schools  as  organ- 
ized. Only  it  will  be  remembered  that  this  procedure 
excludes  much  that  might  fairly  be  brought  under  the  term 
"  secondary." 

The  history  of  secondary  education  in  America  may  be 
roughly  blocked  off  in  three  divisions.  The  first  of  these, 
covering  our  colonial  period,  more  or  less,  had  for  its  char- 
acteristic type  the  old  Latin  grammar  school.  The  latter 
portion  of  this  period,  from  the  time  of  the  "  Great  Awaken- 
ing "  on,  showed  signs  of  transition  to  that  which  was  to 
follow.  The  second  period  may  be  taken  as  extending  from 
the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War,  with  strong  indications 
of  coming  change  from  the  days  of  the  "Educational 
Revival."  The  characteristic  secondary  school  of  this  period 
was  the  academy.  The  third  period,  down  to  our  own  time, 
is  in  an  especial  sense  the  age  of  the  public  high  school. 

In  the  American  colonies,  and  later  in  the  young  Amer- 
ican states,  so  long  as  their  literature,  science,  and  art  cdn- 
tinued  to  be  dependent  on  that  of  Europe,  two  opposing 
influences  may  be  clearly  seen,  shaping  the  higher  life  of 
the  people.  The  first  is  the  spirit  of  protest  against  European 
institutions,  which  many  of  the  colonists  brought  with  them 


INTRODUCTION  7 

from  their  old  home;  the  second  is  the  ever-present  instinct 
of  imitation.  The  protest  was  as  much  a  mark  of  provin- 
ciality as  was  the  imitation.  Keal  American  institutions 
might  be  expected  to  develop  with  the  development  of  real 
American  nationality.  In  the  beginning  there  could  be 
only  such  institutions  as  might  arise  under  the  mingled 
influence  of  a  desire  to  be  like  the  mother  country  and  a 
desire  to  be  different. 

It  will  be  worth  while  to  trace  as  many  of  the  connections 
between  our  American  schools  and  their  European  forerun- 
ners as  we  may  be  able  to  make  out.  These  give  us  the 
lines  along  which  institutional  imitation  has  been  at  work. 
They  bring  us  to  a  better  understanding  of  our  own  schools, 
by  showing  them  to  us  as  members  of  a  great  world-family 
of  schools. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Latin 
school,  of  one  sort  or  another,  was  the  common  institution 
of  secondary  education  in  the  leading  countries  of  Europe. 
This  school  was  the  direct  descendant  of  the  monastic  and 
cathedral  schools  of  the  middle  ages,  but  had  been  enriched 
by  the  literary  influences  of  the  renaissance.  In  England, 
the  type  was  represented  by  the  old  "grammar  schools." 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  defend  a  reference  to  the 
grammar  schools  of  Old  England  as  the  immediate  prototypes 
of  our  colonial  grammar  schools.  The  claim,  repeatedly 
urged,  that  Holland  and  not  England  is  the  true  mother 
of  early  American  education,  has  related  especially  to 
education  of  an  elementary  grade.  So  far  as  secondary 
schools  are  concerned,  the  evidence  which  has  been  brought 
to  light  respecting  the  wide  extension  of  grammar  school 
education  in  England  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  together  with  the  well-known  fact  that  many  of 
our  leading  colonists  were  personally  acquainted,  as  pupils 
or  teachers  or  otherwise,  with  those  English  schools,  seems 
sufficient  to  cover  the  case.1 

1  I  have  come  across  some  explicit  references  to  English  precedents  in  con- 
nection with  the  colonial  grammar  schools  of  New  England  and  New  York.  A 


8  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

In  the  Catholic  portions  of  Europe,  the  educational  insti- 
tutions of  the  Jesuits  were  at  the  height  of  their  prosperity 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  In  addition  to  colleges  and 
universities,  the  Society  of  Jesus  conducted  by  all  odds  the 
most  thoroughly  organized  system  of  Latin  schools  to  be 
found  anywhere.  Political  and  ecclesiastical  forces  pre- 
vented any  open  establishment  of  the  Society  in  England 
and  the  English  colonies.  Accordingly  we  find  but  few 
traces  of  Jesuit  schools  in  our  colonial  period.  Yet  it  can- 
not be  doubted  that  the  Jesuits  were  setting  new  standards 
for  the  Latin  schools  of  continental  Europe,  and  those  stan- 
dards in  all  likelihood  exercised  some  sort  of  indirect  influ- 
ence on  English  and  colonial  institutions.  It  would  take  us 
too  far  afield  to  attempt  an  estimate  of  the  extent  of  this 
influence  at  the  time  we  have  under  consideration.  Still 
further  afield  is  the  question  how  far  the  great  Protestant 
preceptors  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Melanchthon  and  Sturm, 
may  have  influenced  both  the  Jesuit  schools  and  the  English 
schools  of  the  seventeenth  century.  These  problems  are  well 
worthy  of  independent  consideration. 

In  opposition  to  the  view  that  our  New  England  colonists 
imitated  Holland  rather  than  England  in  the  setting-up  of 
their  first  school  system,  Mr.  Fiske  has  suggested  that  the 
prompting  to  such  educational  activity  came  not  from  Hol- 
land bat  from  Calvinism.  Something  like  a  common  move- 
committee  of  the  Boston  town  meeting  reported,  March  13,  1709-10,  recom- 
mending the  appointment  of  a  board  of  inspectors  of  the  Free  Grammar  School, 
i.e.,  the  Latin  School,  "  Agreeably  to  the  Usage  in  England."  Quoted  in  MR. 
JENKS'S  Historical  sketch,  p.  32.  Some  forty  years  earlier,  the  state  of  the  Hop- 
kins  Grammar  School  came  up  for  discussion  in  the  town  meeting  at  New  Haven ; 
and  parents  who  had  been  negligent  about  sending  their  boys  to  the  school 
were  "  pressed  with  the  custom  of  our  predecessors  and  the  common  practice 
of  the  English  nation  to  bring  up  their  children  in  Learning."  QuotdH  by 
BACON,  Hopkins  Grammar  School,  p.  55.  The  master  of  the  grammar 
school  at  New  York,  in  the  seventeen-hundred-thirties,  announced  that  he 
would  receive  beginners  in  Latin  twice  a  year;  "Tho*  once  a  year,  as  the  most 
reasonable,  is  the  Method  of  the  best  Schools  in  our  Mother  Country  (whom 
we  will  not,  sure,  be  ashamed  of  for  a  Pattern)."  Regents'  report,  1870, 
p.  678. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

ment  in  behalf  of  public  education  may  be  observed  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  throughout  the  Calvinis- 
tic  portions  of  Europe  —  in  Scotland,  in  the  Netherlands, 
and  in  the  Protestant  portions  of  France  and  Switzerland. 
"  Obviously,  then,  it  might  be  held  that  free  schools  in  New 
England  were  a  natural  development  of  Calvinism,  and 
do  not  necessarily  imply  any  especially  close  relation  with 
Holland." l  Mr.  Eggleston  has  put  forth  a  similar  view  and 
has  worked  out  some  of  the  details  which  it  suggests.  "  New 
England,"  he  says,  "  was  quite  as  likely  to  fetch  a  precedent 
from  some  Presbyterian  country  as  to  follow  the  tradition  of 
England.  She  did  not  need  to  go  farther  than  Scotland."  2 

It  is  clear  that  Calvinistic  ideas  backed  by  Calvinistic 
examples  were  at  work.  While  the  early  schools  were  like 
the  grammar  schools  of  England,  the  relation  of  such  schools 
to  the  public  that  they  served,  in  the  Calvinistic  colonies  of 
New  England,  was  something  very  different.  Here  we  have 
the  interworking  of  the  protest  with  the  imitation.  For  in 
Calvinism  was  a  Protestantism  endlessly  protesting.  This 
attitude  not  only  committed  those  who  maintained  it  to 
unremitting  efforts  toward  improvement  on  the  civil  and 
religious  conditions  of  Old  England;  but  in  particular  it 
made  education  necessary  for  its  own  continuance  —  and 
more  and  more  education.  The  American  colonists  brought 
other  protests  in  plenty  with  them  from  over  seas,  but  none 
that  had  in  it  larger  educational  implications  than  this  stand- 
ing protest  of  Calvinism. 

We  must  not  suppose,  however,  that  even  yet  we  have 
reached  any  ultimate  explanation.  Calvinism,  like  every- 
thing else,  had  antecedents.  The  man  who  inaugurates  a 
new  movement  in  human  history  is  one  who  gives  expres- 
sion^) what  many  have  been  thinking  more  or  less  clearly. 
He  rallies  about  his  doctrine  those  who,  perhaps  uncon- 
sciously, have  been  waiting  for  the  word  that  he  has  spoken. 

1  Dutch  and  Quaker  colonies,  I.,  p.  33. 

a  Transit  of  civilization,  p.  232.  Compare  his  notes  on  pp.  266-268  of  the 
game  work. 

* 


10  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Thus  many  wandering  aspirations  that  did  not  know  one 
another  become  an  army  and  go  forward  keeping  step.  This 
is  what  John  Calvin  did,  as  others  had  done  before  and  as 
others  have  done  since.  We  might  trace  some  of  the  most 
vital  of  his  doctrines  back  into  the  middle  ages,  back  to 
Augustine,  and  farther  yet.  And  the  educational  aspira- 
tions which  Calvinism  so  greatly  quickened,  we  might  find 
here  and  there,  not  wholly  dormant,  far  back  in  the  ages  we 
call  dark  and  barbarous.  Such  an  inquiry  would  take  away 
none  of  the  true  glory  of  Calvin  and  Calvinism.  The  re- 
former of  Geneva  did  not  claim  that  his  doctrine  was  new. 
But  we  cannot  undertake  to  trace  its  genealogy  here.  An- 
other arbitrary  limit  must  be  set  to  our  search  for  origins. 
That  is  what  must  be  done  in  every  historical  inquiry,  else 
the  work  undertaken  would  become  unmanageable. 

The  imitations  and  protests  of  the  colonists  were  worked 
out  in  a  new  field,  with  its  new  conditions  and  new  prob- 
lems. Those  early  Americans  became  less  conscious*  after  a 
time  of  their  attitude  toward  Europe.  Of  more  importance 
than  their  agreement  or  disagreement  with  European  prece- 
dents was  the  efficient  discharge  of  their  own  immediate 
responsibilities.  So,  little  by  little,  an  American  character 
came  into  being.  The  Eevolution  greatly  promoted^  this 
development,  perhaps  quite  as  much  by  drawing  the  colonies 
together  in  a  new  sense  of  responsibility  at  home,  as  by  cut- 
ting them  loose  from  outward  dependence  upon  Europe.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  provincialism  of  many  sorts 
long  survived  their  achievement  of  independence. 

No  one  of  the  movements  that  have  entered  into  this  stlow 
development  is  more  interesting  than  the  making  of  our 
modern  democracy.  In  this  movement,  too,  Calvinism  thas 
played  no  little  part  —  a  part  which  need  not  be  exagger- 
ated but  cannot  be  ignored.  In  the  later  development  of 
our  American  education,  democracy  has  been  as  great  a  force 
as  was  Calvinism  at  an  earlier  day. 

In  fact,  the  broad,  general  movement  of  American  civili- 
zation is  pretty  well  exhibited  in  our  successive  types  of 


INTRODUCTION  11 

secondary  school.  Our  Latin  grammar  schools  were  largely 
imitations  of  Europe,  though  even  in  them  we  find  some 
modification  made  to  adapt  the  old  institution  to  the  new 
environment.  The  academies,  on  the  other  hand,  showed 
much  less  of  the  influence  of  their  English  prototypes,  and 
early  assumed  a  distinct  American  character.  The  high 
schools  have  been  from  the  early  days  of  their  career  about 
as  thoroughly  American  as  any  institution  we  have  yet 
developed. 

It  is  imitation  with  which  we  have  to  do  first  of  all,  and 
this  takes  us  into  the  story  of  the  grammar  schools  of  Eng- 
land. To  make  the  story  short,  we  begin  in  the  middle,  at 
the  time  of  the  renaissance,  and  touch  only  here  and  there, 
on  things  that  seem  worthy  to  be  called  representative. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS   OF  OLD   ENGLAND 

IN  some  ways  the  most  representative  of  the  English 
grammar  schools  was  that  founded  by  John  Colet,  Dean  of 
St.  Paul's,  London,  of  which  the  historian  Green  has  said : 
"  The  grammar  schools  of  Edward  the  Sixth  and  of  Eliza- 
beth, in  a  word  the  system  of  middle -class  education  which 
by  the  close  of  the  [sixteenth]  century  had  changed  the 
very  face  of  England,  were  the  outcome  of  Colet's  founda- 
tion of  St.  Paul's."  One  chief  reason  for  this  preeminence 
of  St.  Paul's  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first 
school  established  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  of  the  New 
Learning  — it  was  the  first  to  enjoy  that  enrichment  which 
came  from  the  literary  influences  of  the  renaissance.  As  to 
its  early  history  we  have,  fortunately,  a  fair  measure  of 
information. 

It  was  near  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Eighth  that  Colet  entered  upon  the  establishment  of  this 
school.1  He  erected  buildings  for  the  use  of  the  school 
and  its  masters  in  St.  Paul's  churchyard  and  added  an 
endowment  that  was  liberal  for  the  time,  all  from  the 
private  fortune  left  to  him  by  his  father.  He  placed  the 
administration  of  this  trust  in  the  hands  of  the  Master, 
Wardens,  and  Assistants  of  the  Company  of  Mercers,  the 
City  of  London  guild  to  which  his  father  had  belonged. 
This  was  regarded  as  an  unusual  proceeding,  but  was  not 
without  parallel.  The  statutes  drawn  up  for  the  school  by 
Colet  provided  that  "  There  shalbe  taught  in  the  scole  Chil- 

1  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  school  was  established  in  1508,  1509,1510,  or 
1512.  See  KNIGHT,  Life  of  Colet,  pp.  102-109. 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS   OF  OLD  ENGLAND        13 

dren  of  all  nacions  and  countres  indifferently  to  the  Noum- 
rber  of  a  cliij  acordyng  to  the  noumber  of  the  Setys  in  the 
scole."1  I  was  from  the  outset  a  day  school  and  not  a 
boarding  sc/iool/  The  number  of  children  to  be  admitted  is 
thought  to  I  ave  been  chosen  with  reference  to  the  miracle 
of  the  fishes  (John  xxi.  II).2  The  school  was  dedicated 
to  the,  child  Jesus.  "  Above  the  headmaster's  chair,"  says 
Erasmus,  "  is  a  picture  of  the  child  Christ  in  the  act  of 
teaching ;  the  Father  in  the  air  above,  with  a  scroll  saying, 
'Hear  ye  him.'  These  words  were  introduced  at  my 
suggestion."  3 

The  admission  of  children  was  subject  to  the  following 
rules : 

"The  mayster  eh.il  reherse  these  artycles  to  them  that  offer 
theyr  chyldren,  on  this  wyse  here  followynge. 

"If  your  chylde  can  rede  &  wryte  latyn  <k  englisshe  sufficiently, 
BOO  that  he  be  able  to  rede  &  wryte  his  owne  lessons,  than  he  shal 
be  ad  my  tied  into  the  scole  for  a,scholer. 

"  If  your  childe  after  reasonable  season  proued  be  founde  here 
vnapte  &  vnable  to  lernynge,  than  ye  warned  therof  shal  take 
hym  awaye,  that  he  occupye  not  here  rowme  in  vayne. 

"  If  he  be  apte  to  lerne,  ye  shal  be  content  that  he  contynue 
here  tyl  he  haue  some  competent  literature. 

"  If  he  be  absent  vi  dayes  &  in  that  mean  season  ye  shewe  not 
cause  reasonable  (reasonable  cause  is  al  onely  sekenes)  than  his 
rowme  to  be  voyde,  without  he  be  admytted  agayne  &  paye  iiij.  d. 

"Also  after  cause  shewed  yf  he  contynue  so  absent  tyl  the  weke 
of  admyssyon  in  the  nexte  quarter,  &  than  ye  shewe  not  the  contyn- 
uaunce  of  his  sekenes,  than  his  rowme  to  be  voyde  and  he  none  of 
the  schole,  tyl  he  be  admytted  agayne  <fe  paie  iiii.  d.  for  wrytinge 
of  his  name. 

"  Also  yf  he  fall  thryse  in  to  absence,  he  shall  be  admytted  no 
more. 

1  In  this  and  the  succeeding  quotations  in  sixteenth  century  English,  I 
follow  the  carefully  edited  reprints  in  the  appendixes  of  LUPTON'S  Life  of 
ht. 

This  question  is  seriously  discussed  by  LUPTON,  pp.  164-166. 
*  FROUDE,  Life  and  letters  of  Erasmus,  p.  98. 


14  THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE 

"  Your  chyide  shal  on  childermasse  daie  way* •  ,hop 

at  Ponies  and  offer  there. 

"  Also  ye  shal  fynde  hym  waxe  in  wyntejgjj 

"Also  ye  shal  fynde  hym  convenient  b"k 

"If  the  offerer  be  content  with  these  in  let  his 

chylde  be  admytted."1 

Further  regulations  for  the  school  founder  a 
fine  mingling  of  the  devout  churchman,  the  hunrftfist,  and 

the  warm-hearted  friend  of  children.  "  begin 

with  the  words:  "John  Colett,  tin1  henry  Colett 

Dean  of  paules  desyring  nothing  HIM-  ;  ducacion 

and  bringing  vpp  chyldren  in  good  ^\  id  litterature 

in  the  yere  of  our  Lorde  a  mli  f  id  twelff 

bylded  a  Scole  in  the  Estende  of  or  cliij  to 

be  taught  fre  in  the  same."     The  pi;  school  is 

thus  simply  and  broadly  stated.     The  oH         f   study  is 

likewise  prescribed  in  very  broad  au<.  us  : 

"WHAT   SHALBE    TA1 

"  As  towchyng  in  this  scole  what  shalbc  taught  of  the  Maisters 
and  lernyd  of  the  scolers  it  passith  my  wit  to  devyse  and  deter- 
myn  in  particuler  but  in  generall  to  speke  and  sum  what  to  saye 
my  mynde,  I  wolde  they  were  taught  all  way  in  good  litterature 
both  laten  and  greke,  and  goode  auctors  suych  as  haue  the  veray 
Romayne  eliquence  joyned  withe  wisdome  specially  Cristyn  auc- 
tours  that  wrote  theyre  wysdome  with  clene  and  chast  laten  other 
in  verse  or  in  prose,  for  my  entent  is  by  thys  scole  specially  to 
incresse  knowlege  and  worshipping  of  god  and  oure  lorde  Crist 
Jesu  and  good  Cristen  lyff  and  maners  in  the  Children  And  for 
that  entent  I  will  the  Chyldren  lerne  ffirst  aboue  all  the  Cathe- 
chyzon  in  Englysh  and  after  the  accidence  that  I  made  or  sum 
other  yf  eny  be  better  to  the  purpose  to  induce  chyldren  more 
spedely  to  laten  spech  And  thanne  Institutum  Christian!  homines 
which  that  lernyd  Erasmus  made  at  my  request  and  the  boke  called 
Copia  of  the  same  Erasmus  And  thenne  other  auctours  Chr"  i:~n 
as  lactancius  prudentius  and  proba  and  seduliu>  and  Juuencus  and 

1  Text  as  given  by  LUPTON,  Appendix  B. 


SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND        15 

•  -anus  and  suche  other  as  shalbe  to  light  convenyent 

and  tr:  >o  vnto  the  true  laten  spech  all  barbary  all  cor- 

:  t  adulterate  which   ignorant  blynde  folis  brought 

into  t  with  the  same  hath  distayned  and  poysenyd 

tlie  oli  i  b  and  the  varay  Romayne  toug  which  in  the 
tymfrpf  Tu]!y  and  Salust  and  Virgill  and  Terence  was  vsid,  whiche 

also  s  aid  seint  ambrose  and  seint  Austin  and  many 

booty  d  ii yd  in  theyr  tyines.     I  say  that  fFylthynesse  and 

all  sir  h  the  later  blynde  worlde  brought  in  which 

more  ;  .  •  :i  y  ue'caliid  blotterature  thenne  litterature  I  vtterly 

abba;  Jcluad,  oute  of  this  scale  and  charge  the  Maisters 

that  they  teci  vrif  that  is  the  best  and  instruct  the  chyldren 

in  grelty  <0'  laten  in  Redyng  vnto  them  suych  auctours 

that  hathe  wii  •  e  joyned  tlie  pure  chaste  eloquence." 

The  se  prescription  in  these  directions  is 

worthy  of  u  is  to  be  observed  that  the  spirit  of 

humanisi  present,  although  the  good  Dean  still 

hesitated  ;then  authors  into  the  hands  of  the 

pupils.  His  reference  to  Cicero  and  others  of  the  masters 
of  classical  Latin  may  have  contained  a  hint  that  he  ex- 
pected a  time  to  come  when  boys  might  be  permitted  to 
drink  of  Roman  eloquence  at  the  fountain  bead.  Hazlitt 
understands  that  the  "laten  adulterate"  which  Colet  would 
"vtterly  abbanysh"  is  the  Latin  of  Juvenal  and  Persius. 
It  would  be  quite  in  keeping  with  humanistic  precedents, 
if  these  anathemas  were  hurled  against  the  medueval  Latin 
of  the  universities  and  earlier  grammar  schools. 

Greek  is  touched  very  lightly  in  these  statutes  ;  but  it  is 
significant  that  it  is  mentioned  at  all.  The  suspicion  of 
heresy  still  clung  to'that  language,  and  it  was  only  slowly  mak- 
ing its  way  into  the  English  universities.  "  The  Conscious- 
ness of  want  of  Greek  in  Colet"  says  Knight,  " incited  him 
not  only  to  attain  to  some  competent  knowledge  of  it  him- 
self, but  also  ...  to  be  the  Founder  of  the  first  Greek  School 
in  England"'1 

Provision  was  made  for  a  "  hygh  Maister,"  who  "  in  doc- 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  15-16. 


16  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOJLS 

I 

trin  lernyng  and  techyng  shall  direct  all  the  scole."  "  A 
man  hoole  in  body  honest  and  vertuouse  and  lernyd  in  the 
good  and  clene  laten  litterature  and  also  in  grek*3  yf  suyche 
may  be  gotten  a  weddid  man  a  single  manne  or  a  preste 
that  hath  no  benefice  with  cure  nor  seruyce  that  may  lett 
his  due  besynes  in  the  Scole."  There  was  to  be  also  a 
"  Surmaister,"  and  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in  , the  position  of 
high  master,  he  was  to  have  the  preference  *  for  that  place. 
Finally,  the  school  was  to  have  a  "  Chapelyn  "  who  should 
"  attend  allonly  vpon  the  scole."  The  special  religious  ser- 
vices prescribed  for  the  school  were  not  onerous.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  conduct  of  these  services,  the  chaplain  "shall 
teche  the  children  the  cathechyzon  and  Instruction  of  the 
articles  of  the  faith  and  the  X.  commaundmentis  in 
Inglish." 

William  Lilly,  well  known  as  the  author  of  Lilly's  gram- 
mar, was  the  first  master  of  the  school.  After  serving  in 
that  capacity  for  ten  years,  he  was  succeeded  in  regular 
order  by  the  sub-master,  John  Ritwyse.  The  securing  of  a 
suitable  sub-master  in  the  first  instance  was  to  Colet  a 
matter  of  serious  consideration,  and  became  the  subject  of 
interesting  correspondence  between  himself  and  Erasmus. 
The  account  which  Erasmus  gives  of  a  discussion  which  he 
had  with  a  Cambridge  don  regarding  the  dignity  and  use- 
fulness of  the  teacher's  calling,  is  highly  edifying.  Colet 
would  gladly  have  made  Erasmus  master  of  his  school ;  and 
expressed  the  hope  that  he  would  at  least  "give  us  a  help- 
ing hand  in  teaching  our  teachers."  1 

Seebohm  finds  it  necessary  to  defend  Colet  against  the 
charge  of  harshness  in  the  discipline  of  this  school.  There 
is,  at  least,  some  evidence  of  a  pleasing  sort  which  goes  to 
show  that  the  founder  took  a  loving  interest  in  his  boys. 
A  Latin  grammar  was  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  school. 
The  question  of  the  authorship  of  this  grammar  has  vexed 
the  souls  of  antiquarians ;  but  that  is  neither  here  nor.there. 
All  seem  to  agree  that  the  "  lytell  proheme  to  the  boke  " 

1  SEEBOHM,  Oxford  reform-  7-221. 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND        17 

was  written  by  Colet ;  and  this  is  too  good  to  be  passed  un- 
noticed.    It  reads,  in  part,  as  follows : 

"  I  haue  .  .  .  made  this  lytel  boke,  not  thynkynge  that  I  coude 
say  ony  thynge  beter  than  hath  be  sayd  before,  but  I  toke  this 
besynes,  hauynge  grete  pleasure  to  shewe  the  testymony  of  my 
good  mynde  vnto  the  schole.  In  whiche  lytel  warke  yf  ony  newe 
thynges  be  of  me,  it  is  alonely  that  I  haue  put  tese  partes  in  a  more 
clere  ordre,  and  haue  made  them  a  lytel  more  easy  to  yonge  wyttes 
than  (methynketh)  they  were  before.  .  .  .  Wherfore  I  praye  you, 
al  lytel  babys,  all  lytel  chyldren,  lerne  gladly  this  lytel  treatyse, 
and  commende  it  dylygeutly  vuto  your  inemoryes.  Trustynge  of 
this  begynnynge  that  ye  shal  precede  and  grovve  to  parfyt  lyterature, 
and  come  at  the  last  to  be  gret  clarkes.  And  lyfte  vp  your  lytel 
whyte  handes  for  me,  whiche  prayeth  for  you  to  god.  To  whom 
be  al  honour  and  imperyal  maieste  and  glory.  Amen." 

It  has  seemed  worth  while  to  devote  some  little  space  to 
the  beginnings  of  this  school;  for  a  new . movement  began 
with  it,  though  in  an  uncertain  and  hesitating  way.  It  in- 
troduced some  little  measure  of  the  new  humanism  into 
English  grammar  school  education.  A  few  years  later, 
Cardinal  Wolsey's  school  at  Ipswich  went  a  great  deal 
further  in  this  direction.  In  its  eight  classes,  instruction 
was  given  in  such  Latin  authors  as  Terence,  Cicero,  Sallust, 
Caesar,  Vergil,  Horace,  and  Ovid.  By  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, the  grammar  schools  were  schools  of  humanism  as  a 
matter  of  course,  though  much  of  medievalism  still  clung, 
to  them,  and  much  of  their  humanism  was  but  little  better. 

We  need  not  enter  here  upon  any  discussion  of  the  ques- 
tion whether  Colet's  school  was  the  beginning  of  a  new 
movement  in  the  establishment  of  schools,  as  well  as  in  the 
conduct  of  schools.  That  subject  has  been  handled  with 
great  frankness  by  Mr.  Arthur  F.  Leach,1  who  has  com- 
bated the  common  belief  that  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward  VI. 
were  great  founders  of  grammar  schools.  Edward  VI. : 
Spoiler  of  schools,  is  the  significant  title  of  his  first  chapter 

1  English  schools  at  the  Reformation. 

9 


18  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

This  work  has,  moreover,  thrown  a  great  deal  of  light  on  the 
whole  system  of  late  mediaeval  and  early  modern  secondary 
education. 

Mr.  Leach  estimates  that  there  were,  in  1546,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  three  hundred  grammar  schools  in  England  for 
two  and  one-half  millions  of  population,  or  about  one  school 
for  every  eight  thousand  three  hundred  people.  He  finds 
evidence  going  to  show  that  these  schools  were  largely  at- 
tended, their  clientage  being  made  up  in  the  main  from  "  the 
middle  classes,  whether  country  or  town,  the  younger  sons 
of  the  nobility  and  farmers,  the  lesser  landholders,  the  pros- 
perous tradesmen." l  His  comments  on  the  teaching  of 
Latin  in  these  schools,  and  more  particularly  on  the  number 
of  occupations  in  which  Latin  was  needed  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  are  highly  suggestive.  Latin  was  not  only  em- 
ployed in  diplomacy,  in  science,  and  in  the  learned  profes- 
sions ;  "  a  merchant,  or  the  bailiff  of  a  manor,  wanted  it  for 
his  accounts ;  every  town  clerk  or  guild  clerk  wanted  it  for 
his  minute  book.  Columbus  had  to  study  for  his  voyag.es 
in  Latin ;  the  general  had  to  study  tactics  in  it.  The  archi- 
tect, the  musician,  every  one  who  was  neither  a  mere  soldier 
nor  a  mere  handicraftsman,  wanted  not  a  smattering  of 
grammar,  but  a  living  acquaintance  with  the  tongue,  as ,  a 
spoken  as  well  as  a  written  language."  2 

The  specialization  of  schools  which  the  middle  ages  had 
passed  on  to  sixteenth  and  even  seventeenth  century  Eng- 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  109. 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  105.     Mr.  Leach  defends  the  mediaeval  Latin  of  the  schools, 
as  a  living  language.     A  passage  of  the  same  general  tenor  may  be  found  in 
PAULSEN,  Gfeschichte  des  gelehrien  Unterrichts,  pp.  22-24.     The  documents  re- 
printed in  Mr.  Leach's  Part  II.  give  many  examples  of  the  curious  mingling 
of  Latin  and  English  which  is  so  often  found  in  sixteenth  century  papers. 
Mr.  Eggleston,  speaking  of  the  seventeenth  century,  says,  "  Though  the  Latin 
service  was  no  longer  used  by  Protestants,  and  the  Vulgate  Bible  had  been 
dethroned  by  the  original  text,  arid  though  the  main  stream  of  English  the- 
ology was  by  this  time  flowing  in  the  channel  of  the  mother  tongue,  the  notion 
that  all  ministers  should  know  Latin  had  still  some  centuries  of  tough  life  in 
it."     The  transit  of  civilization,  p.  225.     He  gives  examples  of  the  mixture 
of  Latin  and  English  in  a  minister's  diary  of  the  eighteenth  century,  p.  261. 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND        19 

land,  finds  many  illustrations  in  the  documents  which  Mr. 
Leach  presents.  Heading  schools,  song  schools,  and  Latin 
grammar  schools  are  found  side  by  side,  ordinarily  under 
different  masters,  though  sometimes  united  under  one 
management.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  same 
boys  to  spend  a  part  of  their  time  in  one  of  these  schools 
and  a  part  in  another,  vibrating  between  the  two  in  the 
course  of  the  day  or  week.  Writing  was  taught  sometimes 
in  the  reading  school,  sometimes  in  the  song  school,  and  in 
one  instance,  that  of  the  town  of  Rotherham,  separate  provi- 
sion appears  for  a  grammar  school,  a  song  school,  and  a 
writing'  school. 

At  a  later  period,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  this  separate 
existence  of  the  writing  school  was  not  unusual.  One  rea- 
son for  such  separation  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
various  styles  of  penmanship  then  in  vogue  called  for  some 
considerable  training  and  attainment  of  a  technical  sort  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher.  Besides,  writing  involved  the  use 
of  appliances  not  always  to  be  found  in  the  primitive  school- 
rooms of  the  time.  The  same  appliances  —  ink  and  quills 
and  some  sort  of  desk  —  were  needed  in  copying  the  rules 
of  arithmetic  and  in  setting  down  the  steps  in  long  calcula- 
tions. This  is  sufficient  to  account  for  the  fact  that  arith- 
metic was  ordinarily  studied  in  the  writing  school. 

What  the  grammar  schools  had  come  to  be  by  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  American  colonization 
began,  may  be  gathered  and  guessed  from  JOHN  BRINS- 
LEY'S  The  grammar  sch&ole.  This  book,  first  published  in 
1612,  is  thrown  into  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  two 
schoolmasters,  Spoudeus  and  Philoponus.  Spoudeus  repre- 
sents the  ordinary  practice  of  ordinary  grammar  schools, 
especially  in  country  towns.  Philoponus  is  a  reformer  of 
methods,  to  whom  Spoudeus  comes  as  to  an  old  friend,  for 
encouragement  and  counsel.  There  is  an  air  of  candor  and 
simplicity  about  the  whole  which  wins  the  reader's  confi- 
dence ;  and  incidental  corroboration  found  elsewhere  makes 
it  appear  reasonable  to  accept  the  representations  of  Spou- 


20  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

deus  as  fairly  describing  the  schools  of  the  time.  The  im- 
provements proposed  by  Philoponus,  too,  give  many  hints 
of  the  state  of  things  which  he  would  improve. 

Boys  were  commonly  admitted  to  these  grammar  schools 
at  the  age  of  seven  or  eight.  Theoretically  the  schools  were 
for  those  who  could  already  read  the  New  Testament,  if  they 
had  not  even  made  a  beginning  in  the  Latin  accidence.  In 
practice,  however,  nearly  half  of  the  time  of  the  teacher  was 
devoted  to  beginners,  who  must  be  taught  their  ABC;  and 
these  often  were  unable  to  read  at  all  well  when  they  had 
been  in  the  school  for  two  or  three  years  or  even  more. 
The  primer,  the  Psalms  in  metre,  and  the  Testament,  is  the 
curriculum  proposed  by  Philoponus  for  these  beginners. 
After  that  he  would  have  them  enter  upon  the  accidence. 

When  Latin  was  once  begun,  English  was  sadly  neglected. 
"  I  doe  not  know  any  schoole,"  says  Spoudeus,  "  wherein 
there  is  regard  had  hereof  to  any  purpose."  The  study  of 
numbers  was  even  more  generally  overlooked.  It  was  no 
uncommon  thing  to  find  scholars  almost  ready  for  the 
university  who  were  not  able  to  make  out  the  numbers  of 
pages,  chapters,  or  other  divisions  in  the  books  they  were 
reading.  There  were  few  good  penmen  in  the  grammar 
schools,  except  such  as  had  been  taught  by  wandering  scrive- 
ners, "  shifters,"  as  Philoponus  calls  them ;  and  these  men  did 
much  harm  to  the  cause  of  sound  learning. 

The  accepted  curriculum  in  Latin,  to  which  the  regular 
grammar  scholar  devoted  nearly  all  of  his  time,  was :  Acci- 
dence, grammar,  construing.  With  construing,  there  was 
parsing  and  the  making  of  Latin ;  and  this  making  of  Latin 
passed  through  several  stages,  as  epistles,  themes,  declama- 
tions (disputations),  and  verse.  The  Latin  texts  which 
Philoponus  has  his  pupils  construe  are  given  in  order, 
as  follows:  Pueriles confabulatiunculae}  Sententiae  sueriles, 
Cato,  Corderius  (dialogues),  Esop's  fables;  "  Tullies  1  pistles 
gathered  by  Sturmius:  Tullies  Offices,  with  the  boovs  ad- 

1  This  seems  to  have  been  a  collection  of  simple  dialogues  prepai  v)  vty 
Brinsley  himself. 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND        21 

joyned  to  them ;  de  Amicitia,  Senectute,  Paradoxes :  Quid 
de  Tristibus,  Quids  Metamorphosis,  Virgil."  Other  texts 
spoken  of  as  in  use  in  the  schools  are :  "  Tullies  Sentences, 
Aphthonius,  Drax  his  phrases,  Flores  poetarum,  Tully  de 
Natura  deorum,  and  Terentius  Christianus ; "  and  to  these 
are  added,  for  more  advanced  study,  Horace,  Persius,  and 
Juvenal. 

English  was  employed  in  the  accidence.  The  text-book 
was  painfully  committed  to  memory,  without  reference  to 
the  meaning  of  things.  Meanings  were  to  be  gathered  after- 
wards, by  practice.  The  grammar  consisted  of  rules  of 
orthography,  etymology,  syntax,  and  prosody,  expressed  in 
Latin  ;  and  these  were  "  learned  without  book,"  i.  e.,  by  heart, 
as  we  should  say.  There  was  more  or  less  of  construing  of 
these  rules,  which  would  give  the  learner  some  little  chance 
of  getting  at  their  meaning.  But  much  of  the  process  must 
have  been  purely  Chinese.  A  later  edition  of  Lilly's  gram- 
mar had  been  made  the  official  text-book  of  the  realm,  so 
boys  in  all  schools  learned  the  same  lines.  The  rules  in 
this  grammar  were  commonly  referred  to  by  the  first  two  or 
three  words,  like  a  papal  bull.  As  in  praesenti,  or  Propria 
quae  maribus,1  carried  its  meaning  perfectly  to  any  one 
trained  in  these  schools. 

Making  Latin  was  a  great  bugbear  to  both  masters  and 
scholars.  One  theme  a  week  was  required  in  good  schools. 
Boys  were  punished  so  much  for  poor  work  on  these  themes 
that,  according  to  Spoudeujs,  they  "  would  rather  desire  to 
goe'to  any  base  trade /or  drudgery  than  to  be  schollers." 

The  boys  were  required  to  use,  only  Latin  in  all  of  their 
intercourse  while  at  school,  and  devices  of  all  sorts  were 
employed  to  keep  them  from  uttering  a  word  of  English. 
Conversation  books,  as  we  have  seen,  occupied  a  prominent 
place  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the*  school  curriculum  —  mere 
practical  hand-books,  such  as  travellers  now  use  in  picking 
up  the  more  necessary  phrases  of  modern  French  or  German. 

1  As  in  praesenti  perfectum  format  in  avi.  Propria  quae  maribus  tribuun- 
tur,  mascula  dicas. 


THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


The  Colloquies  of  Corderius  is  an  example.  A  seventeenth 
century  edition  of  this  work,  probably  edited  by  the  eminent 
scholar,  Charles  Hoole,  is  a  short  and  thick  volume  of  over 
four  hundred  pages.  It  contains  a  wide  range  of  Latin  con- 
versation, together  with  a  parallel  English  translation.  Here 
is  a  specimen,  from  the  beginning  of  the  third  book : 


"Col.  1.   One  of  the  Scholars 
and  the  Master 

D.    God  save  you,  Master. 
P.    God  save  you  through  Jesus 
Christ. 

ARE   THEY   ALL   GOT    UP? 

D.   All  except  the  little  ones. 

P.    Is  any  one  sick  ? 

D.    None,  thanks  be  to  God. 


Col.  1.    Unus  ex  Discipulis, 
&  Praeceptor 

Salve,  Praeceptor. 

Salve  per  Jesum  Christum. 

An  surrexerunt  omnes  ? 

Omnes  praeter  parvulos. 
Numquis  aegrotat? 
Nemo,  gratia  Deo." 


After  a  time,  the  dialogue  drops  into  confidential  gossip, 
very  similar  to  our  modern  style  of  The-nephew-of-my-uncle- 
has-bought-the-black-waistcoat-of-the-French-tailor.  The  fol- 
lowing is  an  example : 


"Col.  7.    Clericus, 
The  Master. 


C. 


Master,  may  not  I  and  my 

uncle's  son  go  home  ? 
To  what  end  ? 
To    my    sisters     daughters 

wedding. 

M.   When  is  she  to  be  married  ? 
C.    To-morrow. 

Why  will  you  go  so  quickly? 


M. 
C. 


M. 


C.     To  CHANGE    OUR    CLOATHS. 


Col.  7.    Clericus, 
Magister. 

Licetne,    Magister,    ut    ego 

patrullis  eamus  domum  ? 
Quid  eo"? 
Ad  nuptias  consobrinae. 

Quando  est  nuptiira  ? 
Crastino  die. 
Cur  tarn  cit6  vultis  ire  ? 
Ut  mutemus  vestimenta" 


The  master,  in  these  colloquies,  is  kind  and  paternal 
beyond  measure,  and  the  pupil  is  an  impossible  little  prig. 
The  heart  of  every  real  schoolboy  must  have  rebelled 
against  such  barefaced  imposture.  But  the  dialogues  let  us 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS   OF  OLD  ENGLAND        23 

into  many  an  inside  view  of  the  daily  employments  of  the 
school.  So  far,  however,  as  banishing  the  mother  tongue 
from  the  schools  was  concerned,  Confabulatiunculae,  Collo- 
quia,  and  Sententiae  pueriles,  and  all  of  the  rewards  and 
punishments  added  thereto,  generally  failed,  as  Philoponus 
sorrowfully  admits. 

Greek  is  touched  in  Brinsley's  book  much  more  lightly 
than  Latin.  It  is  evident  that  even  yet  it  had  not  settled 
down  into  a  well-established  course.  The  Greek  grammar 
was  first  studied,  and  after  that  the  New  Testament.  Parts 
of  Isocrates,  Xenophon,  Plato,  and  Demosthenes  are  thought 
most  fit  for  scholars  in  the  grammar  schools,  after  the  New 
Testament ;  but  it  is  agreed  that  boys  will  be  admitted  into 
the  universities  if  they  are  well  entered  upon  the  Greek 
Testament.  There  was  some  attention  devoted  to  Greek 
composition,  but  Philoponus  would  have  little  time  wasted 
on  such  exercises,  the  ability  to  write  Latin  being  much 
oftener  called  into  use. 

The  two  friends  agree  that  too  little  attention  was 
devoted  in  the  schools  to  instruction  in  religion.  Where 
properly  looked  after,  this  consisted  of  the  teaching  of  the 
catechism,  reports  of  sermons  heard  on  Sundays,  and  the 
repetition  of  the  Bible  history.1  Philoponus  would  have 
occasional  lessons  in  civility  given  in  the  time  commonly 
devoted  to  the  history.  Readings  in  the  Bible  are  said  to 
have  been  employed  in  some  of  the  best  schools  to  reinforce 
instruction  in  Latin  and  Greek,  passages  read  in  the  one 
language  being  translated  into  the  other. 

So  far  the  studies  of  the  schools.  It  is  admitted  that 
their  discipline  is  often  severe  and  ill-regulated.  Philoponus 
is  not  ready  to  banish  the  rod,  but  he  counsels  mildness. 
School  hours  are  long,  and  holidays  very  few,  but  greater 
leniency  in  these  particulars  is  not  regarded  with  favor. 

Taken  all  together,  the  view  of  the  schools  which  the  book 
presents  is  indeed  depressing.  No  wonder  that  Spoudeus 

1  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  prescriptions  of  the  English  Canons  of 
1603,  canon  79. 


24  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

remarks  at  the  beginning  of  the  interview:  "For  my  time,  I 
haue  spent  it  in  a  fruitlesse,  wearisom,  and  an  vnthankfull 
office  ....  I  heare  of  some  others  .  .  .  whom  God  blesseth 
greatly  in  this  calling ;  though  such  be  verie  rare,  some  one 
or  two  spoken  of  almost  in  a  whole  countrey." 

It  is  not  to  our  purpose  to  devote  much  attention  to  the 
improvements  which  Philoponus  proposes.  They  are  for 
the  most  part  genuine  improvements  ;  and  many  of  them 
might  be  found  realized  in  the  better  teaching  of  the  past 
century,  or  even  in  the  more  common  practice  of  the  schools. 
Some,  having  become  established,  have  in  their  turn  been 
painfully  displaced  by  later  reforms.  l  But  the  call  which 
Philoponus  utters  for  more  attention  to  the  meaning  of 
things  —  more  dependence  upon  the  understanding  —  sounds 
out  in  unison  with  the  voices  of  educational  reform  through 
all  the  ages. 

Brinsley  devotes  his  book  and  his  endeavors  as  a  school- 
master to  the  service  of  the  Church  and  the  Commonwealth. 
The  Eeverend  Doctor  Joseph  Hall,  in  "  A  commendatory 
Preface,"  declares  that  "  Our  Grandfathers  were  so  long 
vnder  the  ferule,  till  their  beards  were  growne  as  long  as 
their  pens :  this  age  hath  descried  a  rieerer  way."  And 
Doctor  Hall  rejoices  in  these  improvements  particularly  in 
view  of  the  alarming  progress  made  by  the  schools  of  the 
Jesuits.  It  is  necessary,  in  his  view,  that  some  way  should 
be  found  by  which  English  masters  may  outstrip  the  edu- 
cational achievements  of  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  and  this 
book  offers  "  not  feete,  but  wings  "  for  that  purpose.  Brins- 
ley himself  gives  an  occasional  hint  of  his  desire  to  make 
of  the  grammar  schools  a  national  bulwark  against  the  dan- 
ger of  Eoman  CalmoUrr  aggression.  He  would  have  his 
scholars  begin  withN#e  New  Testament  as  their  first  Greek 

1  Brinsley  warmly  recommended  the  use  of  English  translations  of  the 
classics  studied,  and  in  this  he  was  followed  by  other  seventeenth  century 
reformers.  Some  of  our  earliest  school  "  ponies"  were  prepared  by  these  practi- 
cal-minded schoolmasters.  Was  this  all  wrong  ?  Might  it  not  be  well  to  use 
translations  in  good  English  more  freely  than  is  commonly  approved  in 
present-day  teaching? 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND        25 

text,  not  only  "  for  that  eternall  life  is  onely  in  these  bookes, 
being  truly  vnderstood  and  beleeued,"  but  also  because  of 
slanders  circulated  against  our  English  translations,  which 
"haue  beene  a  principall  meanes  to  turne  many  thousand 
soules,  after  Satan  and  Antichrist." 

When  all  necessary  deductions  have  been  made,  it  still 
cannot  be  doubted  that  John  Brinsley  exercised  a  whole- 
some influence  on  the  school  practice  of  the  time  through 
this  and  the  several  other  educational  works  which  he  pub- 
lished. He  proposed  to  render  instruction  interesting  to 
both  master  and  scholars.  He  would  make  of  the  school  a 
true  Indus  literarius,  instead  of  the  "  carnificina  or  pistrinum 
literarium"  which  the  boys  too  often  had  reason  for  think- 
ing it  to  be.  He  believed  that,  "  all  schollers  of  any  toward- 
liness  and  diligence  may  be  made  absolute  Grammarians, 
and  every  way  fit  for  the  Universitie,  by  fifteene  yeeres  of 
age."  He  acknowledged  freely  his  indebtedness  to  "  Our 
learnedest  Schoolemaster  M.  Askam."  For  himself  he  says  : 
"  I  .  .  .  onely  desire  to  learn  of  all  the  learned,  to  helpe  the 
vnlearned."  There  is  a  tone  of  kindliness  running  through 
the  book,  and  every  evidence  of  that  lovableness  always 
found  in  those  who  love  to  teach.  The  wilderness  of  Eng- 
lish grammar  schools  of  the  seventeenth  century  could  not 
have  been  all  a  waste  when  a  few  such  spirits  were  to  be 
found  in  it. 

In  1678,  Christopher  Wase,  an  Oxford  man,  published  his 
little  book  on  Free  schools  in  England.  It  was  intended  to 
answer  the  question,  then  frequently  raised,  "whether  the 
English  Free  Grammar  Schools  be  overproportioned  to  the 
occasions  of  the  Church  and  State  .of  England."  Wase 
speaks  as  if  recalling  a  well-known  fact  when  he  says  that 
"there  are  of  late  Grammar  Schools  founded  and  endowed 
in  almost  every  Market  town  of  England,"  in  which  the 
children  of  the  town  are  to  receive  instruction  free  of 
charge.  But  he  declares,  on  the  other  hand,  that  some 
counties  are  not  well  supplied  with  free  schools  in  actual 
operation ;  that  at  the  best,  one  may  see  "  the  maintenance 


26  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

but  of  very  few  in  a  County,  such  as  may  vindicate  Masters; 
from  being  necessitous  and  contemptible."  Many  of  thej 
free  grammar  schools,  instead  of  bringing  up  the  youth  inj 
learning,  "are  onely  Nurseries  of  Piety  and  Letters,  as 
preparatory  to  Trade." 

He  proceeds  to  show  that  these  schools  are  not  turning 
out  more  scholars  than  England  needs.  His  argument  is 
based  on  the  assumption  that  a  Latin  training  is  needed  for 
the  three  learned  professions,  and  for  many  subsidiary  call- 
ings. Some  little  attempt  is  made  to  give  the  question  a 
definite  numerical  treatment,  but  it  is  evident  that  the 
statistical  information  which  such  treatment  would  call  for 
was  not  at  hand. 

The  objection  that  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  needs  not 
learning  but  rather  the  illumination  of  the  spirit,  was  already 
abroad,  and  Wase  undertook  to  answer  it.  "  Morality,"  so 
the  argument  runs,  "  the  Law  written  in  our  hearts  needed 
not  to  have  bin  learned  out  of  Books.  .  .  But  the  Doctrine 
of  Faith  being  an  engrafted  word,  not  from  nature,  but  by 
culture, needed  to  be  reveled;  to  be  couch 'd  in  Holy  Writt" 
In  the  case  of  the  legal  profession,  it  was  commonly  agreed 
that  a  knowledge  of  Latin  was  necessary,  but  a  tendency 
had  set  in  to  dispense  prospective  lawyers  from  the  study 
of  poetry  and  of  Greek.  A  vigorous  protest  is  entered 
against  this  change,  much  of  the  argument  being  drawn 
from  Cicero's  oration  in  behalf  of  the  poet,  Archias. 

But  Christopher  Wase  goes  on  in  a  strain  that  reminds 
one  of  the  nineteenth  rather  than  the  seventeenth  century. 
It  is  said  that  the  lower  classes  should  be  trained  only  for 
their  calling  in  life  ;  and  that  particularly  in  matters  politi- 
cal and  ecclesiastical  they  should  simply  learn  to  obey  those 
set  over  them.  He  replies  that,  "  it  may  be  seasonable  to 
interpose,  whether  there  be  not  a  Generall  as  well  as  Parti- 
cular calling.  All  .  .  .  ly  under  some  Duty  towards  God 
and  Man.  .  .  .  That  any  nation  can  be  too  universally 
learn'd  in  the  law  of  well-living,  would  be  ...  hard  to  be  con- 
ceived." "  It  is  agreed  on  all  parts,  that  Education  is  afiso- 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND        27 

lutely  due  to  man,  either  as  in  his  imperfect  or  corrupt 
estate."  And  again,  "Kings  of  England  have  graffed  upon 
these  Policies,  this  conscience;  that  their  Subjects  pay  them 
a  rational  obedience:  that  they  ground  their  Faith  upon  prin- 
ciples of  sound  knowledge" 

Taking  such  high  ground  with  regard  to  the  place  and 
function  of  education,  Wase  urges  that  those  who  would 
make  gifts  and  bequests  for  the  establishment  of  new 
grammar  schools  be  not  discouraged,  but  given  all  possible 
furtherance  in  so  praiseworthy  an  enterprise.  He  would 
have  schoolmasters  better  paid ;  would  have  the  patronage 
of  country  schools  annexed  to  the  several  colleges  of  the 
universities ;  would  have  these  schools  made  so  good  that 
the  gentry  would  find  it  advantageous  to  send  their  sons 
thither,  to  be  taught  along  with  the  sons  of  the  common 
people.  The  practice  of  "our  modern  Januists,"  who  "seem 
in  great  measure  to  leave  Grammar  and  build  upon  Diction- 
ary" does  not  find  favor  in  his  eyes.  The  writings  of  Co- 
menius  must  have  had  some  influence  in  England  to  have 
called  out  this  protest.1  Wase  prefers  the  example  of  those 
English  "  Master  builders,"  Ascham,  Hoole,  and  William 
Walker. 

He  devotes  a  brief  passage  to  the  question  of  instruction 
jn  writing  and  numeration.  The  proper  instruments  for 
these  studies  should  be  provided  in  the  grammar  schools, 
even  if  a  separate  room  is  not  devoted  to  such  use.  Speak- 
ing apparently  of  penmanship  and  arithmetic  both  together 
he  adds  :  "  None,  I  think,  in  these  days  are  of  opinion  that 
the  skill  and  practice  of  this  Art  can  be  too  universally  pro- 
pagated :  some  may  with  reason  fear  it  is  by  many  perverted 
from  its  noblest  end,  when  emploid  to  this  discouragement  of 
other  more  excellent  Arts  and  Sciences  or  restrained  in  a 
manner  wholly  to  the  service  of  secular  advantage."  2 

The  large  significance  as  well  as  the  relative  scantiness 

1  Compare  the  rather  slighting  comment  of  Milton  in  the  Tractate  on  Edu* 
cation. 

a  Op.  cit.,  pp.  3-11,  45-59,  66-82,  87-88,  108. 


28  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


of  Latin-school  education  in  England  in  the  later  seven- 
teenth century  is  well  illustrated  in  this  little  academic  dis- 
sertation. Thirty  years  before  Wase  wrote,  a  fresh  and 
vigorous  movement  in  secondary  education  was  already  in 
full  progress  in  the  American  colonies ;  and  not  long  after 
his  book  appeared,  it  took,  as  it  were,  a  fresh  start.  We  are 
now  ready  to  enter  upon  some  examination  of  the  records  of 
this  movement. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES 

For  several  generations  the  standard  biography  of  Colet  was 

KNIGHT,  SAMUEL,  D.D.  The  life  of  Dr.  John  Colet,  Dean  of  S.  Paul's  in 
the  reigns  of  K.  Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIII.  and  founder  of  S. 
Paul's  school :  with  an  appendix  containing  some  account  of  the  mas- 
ters and  more  eminent  scholars  of  that  foundation ;  and  several  original 
papers  relating  to  the  said  life.  London,  1724. 
Somewhat  extended  extracts  from  this  work  may  be  found  in  BARNARD'S 

Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  xvi.     A  more  modern  account  is  that  of 

LUPTON,  J.  H.     A  life  of  John  Colet,  D.D.,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  and 
founder  of  St.  Paul's  School,  with  an  appendix  of  some  of  his  English 
writings.     London  :  George  Bell  and  Sons,  1887. 
Chapter  9  relates  to  the  founding  of  the  school.     Additional  information 
of  much  interest  may  be  found  in 

SEEBOHM,  FREDERIC.     The  Oxford  reformers,  John  Colet,  Erasmus,  and 
Thomas  More.     Being  a  history  of  their  fellow-work.     London  and 
New  York  :  Longmans,  Green,  and  Co.,  1887. 
Chapter  6  tells  of  the  founding  of  St.  Paul's  school.     And  in 

FROUDE,  J.  A.  Life  and  letters  of  Erasmus.  Lectures  delivered  at 
Oxford,  1893-4.  New  York :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1894. 

Other  matter  relating  to  St.  Paul's  School  may  be  found  in 
HAZLITT,  W.  CAREW.     Schools,  school-books,  and  schoolmasters,  a  con- 
tribution to  the  history  of  educational  development  in  Great  Britain. 
London:  J.  W.  Jarvis  &  Son,  1888. 

Especially  chapter  7- 

STAUNTON,  HOWARD.  The  great  schools  of  England :  an  account  of  the 
foundation,  endowments,  and  discipline  of  the  chief  seminaries  of  learn- 
ing in  England  ;  including  Eton,  Winchester,  Westminster,  St.  Paul's, 


THE   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  OF  OLD  ENGLAND        29 

Charterhouse,  Merchant  Taylors',  Harrow,  Rugby,  Shrewsbury,  etc.. 
etc.     London,  1865. 
Also  in  that  interesting  old  volume 

[ACKERMANN,  R.]     The  history  of  the  colleges  of  Winchester,  Eton,  and 
Westminster ;  with  the  Charterhouse,  the  schools  of  St.  Paul's,  Mer- 
chant Taylors,  Harrow,  and  Rugby,  and  the  frge-school  of  Christ's 
Hospital.     London,  1816. 
The  lives  of  Colet  present,  in  appendixes,  reprints  of  valuable  documents 

relating  to  the  history  of  St.  Paul's  School.     Such  matter  may  be  found 

also,  less  carefully  edited,  in  the  works  of  Hazlitt  and  Staunton  referred  to 

above. 

LEACH,  ARTHUR  F.  English  schools  at  the  Reformation,  1546-8.  West- 
minster: Archibald  Constable  &  Co.,  1896.  Pp.  346. 

The  value  of  this  work  is  greatly  enhanced  by  the  reprint  of  documents 
relating  to  proceedings  under  the  Chantries  Acts  of  Henry  VIII.  and 
Edward  VI.,  pp.  123-320.  A  later  work  by  the  same  author,  Early 
Yorkshire  schools,  the  Yorkshire  Archaeological  Society,  1898  (pp.  74+252), 
makes  important  additions  to  this  study. 

I  cannot  omit  to  mention  one  work  which  is  of  great  value  because  of  the 
light  which  it  throws  on  the  earlier  educational  ideals  of  the  renaissance  : 

WOODWARD,  WILLIAM  HARRISON.  Vittorino  da  Feltre  and  other  human- 
ist educators  :  essays  and  versions.  An  introduction  to  the  history 
of  classical  education.  Cambridge :  University  Press,  1897.  Pp. 
12+256. 

Chapter  2,  book  5,  of  GREEN'S  History  of  the  English  people  gives  a  very 
helpful  account  of  the  revival  of  learning  in  England. 

Of  very  great  value  in  connection  with  this  and  the  following  chapter  is  — 

EGGLESTON,  EDWARD.  The  transit  of  civilization  from  England  to  Amer- 
ica in  the  seventeenth  century.  New  York  :  D.  Appletou  &  Co.,  1901. 
Pp.  9+344. 

Especially  chapter  the  fifth,  on  The  tradition,  of  education. 
Mr.  Eggleston  has  done  a  good  service  in  calling  attention  anew  to  the 
writings  of  John  Brinsley.  I  have  made  use  of  the  copies  of  the  Ludus 
literarius  found  in  the  library  of  Columbia  University  (first  edition)  and 
in  the  library  of  the  Boston  Athenreum  (fifth  edition).  The  title  page  is 
nearly  identical  in  the  two.  That  of  the  first  edition  reads  as  follows  : 

Ludus  literarius  :  or,  the  Grammar  Schoole ;  shewing  how  to  pro- 
ceede  from  the  first  entrance  into  learning,  to  the  highest  perfection 
required  in  the  Grammar  Schooles,  with  ease,  certainty  and  delight 
both  to  Masters  and  Sehollars  ;  onely  according  to  our  common  Gram- 
mar, and  ordinary  Classicall  Authours  :  Begvn  to  be  sovght  ovt  at  the 


30  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

desire  of  some  worthy  fauourers  of  learning,  by  searching  the  experi- 
ments of  sundry  most  profitable  Schoolemasters  and  other  learned,  and 
confirmed  by  tryall :  Intended  for  the  helping  of  the  younger  sort  of 
Teachers,  and  of  all  Schollars,  with  all  other  desirous  of  learning ;  for 
the  perpetuall  benefit  of  Church  and  Common-wealth.  It  offereth  it 
selfe  to  all  to  whom  it  may  doe  good,  or  of  whom  it  may  receiue  good  to 
bring  it  towards  perfection.  London  :  Printed  for  Thomas  Man,  1612. 
[Numbered  pages,  330.] 

The  copy  at  Columbia  University  is  bound  in  one  volume  with  BRINS- 
LEY'S  The  posing  of  the  parts,  which  bears  the  same  date.  This  little  work, 
of  63  numbered  leaves,  is  an  "  accidence  "  or  Latin  primer  arranged  in 
questions  and  answers. 

The  copy  of  the  Colloquies  of  Corderius  which  I  have  used  is  in  the 
library  of  Columbia  University.  The  title  page  and  some  of  the  later 
leaves  are  missing.  A  note  in  manuscript  on  the  inside  of  the  cover 
represents  it  as  the  first  edition  of  the  work  in  the  form  put  forth  (1653) 
by  Charles  Hoole. 

There  is  a  copy  of  CHUISTOPFIER  WASE'S  book  in  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress. It  is  published  anonymously,  and  bears  the  title  : 

Considerations  concerning  free-schools  as  settled  in  England. 
Printed  at  the  Theater  in  Oxford,  and  are  to  be  had  there.     And  in 
London  at  Mr.  Simon  Millers  at  the  signe  of  the  Star  near  the  West 
end  of  S.  Paul's  Church.     Anno  1678.     Pp.  [8]  +  112. 


CHAPTER   III 
EARLY   COLONIAL   GRAMMAR   SCHOOLS 

THE  fathers  of  our  early  colonies  had,  many  of  them,  been 
educated  in  the  Latin  schools  of  Old  England.  William 
Penn  received  his  early  schooling  at  the  Chigwell  Free 
Grammar  School  Theophilus  Eaton  and  John  Davenport 
were  schoolmates  in  the  Coventry  Free  Grammar  School, 
whence  Davenport  went  at  the  age  of  fourteen  to  Oxford. 
Edward  Hopkins  had  been  a  scholar  in  the  Royal  Free 
Grammar  School  in  Shrewsbury.  Roger  Williams — .what 
a  wilful  and  lovable  schoolboy  he  must  have  been  !j-£/went 
to  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge,  from  the  Charter  House. 

The  early  secondary  schools  of  the  colonies,  while  sub- 
stantially of  one  type,  took  different  name^s.  They  were 
called  Latin  grammar  schools;  or  for  short,  grammar  schools, 
like  their  English  prototypes.  Less  frequently  the  name 
was  shortened  to  Latin  school.  In  some  places  they  were 
called  public  schools,  as  are  the  great  classical  schools  of 
England  at  the  present  time.  The  name  free  school,  also 
in  use  in  the  mother  country,  was  frequently  employed. 

There  has-  been  considerable  discussion  of  the  origin  and 
meaning  of  this  last-mentioned  designation.  The  expla- 
nation which  would  connect  it  with  the  old  Greek  notion  of 
liberal  education,  is  without  good  historical  foundation; 
though  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  title  was  sometimes 
employed  by  men  of  classical  spirit  with  conscious  reference 
to  the  ancient  usage.  Professor  Basil  Sellers  has  shown 
that  it  was  commonly  used  merely  "as  a  compound  name 
indicating  a  certain  grade  of  instruction,  such  as  we  would 


32  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

call '  liberal/  without  assigning  to  the  adjective  any  descrip-J 
tive  force  whatever." 

The  latest  word  in  this  discussion  and  perhaps  the  last,j 
has  been  spoken  by  Mr.  Leach.  After  his  extended  exami- 
nation of  the  documents  relating  to  schools  affected  by  the'. 
Chantries  Acts  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward  VI.,  he  sets 
aside  the  various  other  interpretations  which  have  been 
offered,  and  sums  up  his  own  conclusions  in  the  following 
words :  "  It  is  impossible,  if  the  phrase  is  regarded  in  its 
historical  development  .  .  .  that  it  could  have  meant  any- 
thing but  what  it  was  popularly  supposed  to  mean  —  free 
from  payment  of  tuition  fees.  Entrance  fees,  and  all  sorts 
of  extras  and  luxuries,  such  as  fires,  light,  candles,  stationery, 
cleaning,  whipping,  might  have  to  be  paid  for ;  but  a  free 
School  meant  undoubtedly  a  School  in  which,  because  of 
endowment,  all,  or  some  of  the  scholars,  the  poor  or  the 
inhabitants  of  the  place,  or  a  certain  number,  were  freed 
from  fees  for  teaching."  1 

This  is  a  clear  and  carefully  guarded  statement,  and 
seems  to  be  borne  out  by  the  documentary  evidence  pre- 
sented. It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  in  our 
early  colonial  period,  a  "  free  school "  was  generally  one  in 
which  school  f5es  of  one  sort  or  another  were  regularly  paid 
by  all  but  the  poorest  pupils ;  and  was,  moreover,  a  school 
of  secondary  grade,  that  is,  a  Latin  grammar  school. 

A  melancholy  interest  attaches  to  the  first  colonial 
grammar  school  of  which  we  have  any  record.  This  school 
was  decreed  by  the  Virginia  Company  of  London  in  1621, 
and  was  to  be  located  at  Charles  City,  on  the  James  Eiver. 
The  colony  had  before  this  time  set  hopefully  about  the 

1  English  schools  at  the  Reformation,  pp.  110-114.  Of.  STRIKER,  Educa- 
tion in  Mar i/I and,  p.  20,  foot-note;  BARNARD'S  Am.  Journ.  Ed., I.,  pp.  298- 
299,  foot-notes;  ADAMS,  College  of  William  and  Mary,  p.  13. 

CHRISTOPHER  WASE  refers  to  the  common  complaint  in  his  day  that  there 
were  no  free  schools  in  England,  since  "tutorage"  was  "  no  where  remitted." 
The  reason  which  he  finds  for  this  state  of  affairs  is  that  endowments,  however 
ample  at  the  time  of  their  settlement,  have  in  course  of  time  become  unequal 
to  the  decent  support  of  schoolmasters.  Free  schools  in  England,  p.  60. 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  33 

establishment  of  a  college.  Liberal  endowment  was  pro- 
vided ;  but  it  was  proposed  that  the  erection  of  buildings 
be  postponed,  arid  that  in  the  mean  time  a  free  school  should 
be  opened,  which  should  prepare  students  for  entrance  upon 
the  college  studies.  •  A  special  fund  was  provided  for  that 
purpose. 

There  is  evidence  of  the  interest  then  felt  in  Virginia, 
in  the  stories  of  the  raising  of  this  fund.  One  of  these 
should  be  repeated  here.  The  Eev.  Patrick  Copeland,  re- 
turning to  England  on  the  ship  Royall  James,  after  a 
residence  of  some  years  in  India,  persuaded  his  fellow 
travellers  to  contribute  the  sum  of  £70  "  towardes  some 
good  worke  to  be  begunn  in  Virginia  "  —  away  on  the  other 
side  of  the  globe.  "  An  unknowne  person "  added  £30  to 
this  sum.  The  money  was  accepted  by  the  Company  with 
every  evidence  of  interest  in  the  project.  "  It  beinge,  there- 
fore, nowe  taken  into  consideracon  whither  a  Church  or  a 
Schoole  was  most  necessarie,  and  might  nearest  agree  to  the 
intencons  of  the  Donors :  .  .  .  they  .  .  .  conceaued  it  most 
fitt  to  resolue  for  the  erectinge  of  a  publique  free  schoole 
.  .  .  as  that  whereof  both  Church  and  Comon  wealth  take 
their  origiriall  foundacon  and  happie  estate,  this  being  also 
like  to  proue  a  work  most  acceptable  unto  the  Planters, 
through  want  whereof  they  liaue  bin  hitherto  constrained 
to  their  great  costs  to  send  their  Children  from  thence 
hither  to  be  taught." 

In  honor  of  its  first  benefactors,  the  proposed  institution 
was  named  the  "  East  Indy  School."  "  It  was  also  thought 
fitt  that  this,  as  a  Collegiate  or  free  school,  should  have 
dependance  upon  the  Colledge  i\\  Virginia  wch  should  be 
made  capable  to  receaue  Schollers  from  the  schoole  into 
such  Schollershipps  and  fellowshipps  of  said  Colledge  shall 
be  endowed  withall  for  the  adnancement  of  schollers  as  they 
arise  by  degrees  and  deserts  in  learn  in ge."  The  Company 
seems  to  have  set  apart  one  thousand  acres  of  land  for  the 
endowment  of  the  school,  and  to  have  provided  an  overseer 
and  five  other  persons  for  the  management  of  this  estate. 

3 


34  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

It  was  proposed  that  "  such  as  send  their  children  to  this 
schoole  should  giue  some  benevolence  unto  the  schoolm1" 
for  the  better  encrease  of  his  mayntenance  ; "  and  "  that  the 
planters  there  be  stirred  up  to  put  their  helping  hands 
towards  the  speedy  buildinge  of  the  said  schoole,"  with  the 
assurance  that  "those  that  exceed  others  in  their  bounty^ 
and  Assistance  hereunto  shal  be  priuileged  with  the  prej 
ferment  of  their  Children  to  the  said  schoole  before  others 
that  shall  be  found  less  worthie."  Immediate  steps  were 
taken  to  send  out  a  schoolmaster.  But  these  hopeful  be- 
ginnings were  interrupted  by  the  terrible  Indian  massacre 
of  1622,  in  which  more  than  three  hundred  of  the  colonists 
lost  their  lives,  followed  by  the  fall  of  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany, in  1624.  We  have  no  certain  evidence  that  the  schoo 
was  ever  opened.1 

The  attempt  made  a  little  later  to  establish  a  free  schoo 
in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  was  more  fortunate ;  anc 
the  resulting  institution  still  lives  and  thrives,  after  more 
than  a  quarter  millennium  of  honorable  service.  The  Boston 
Latin  School  is  a  child  of  the  town  meeting.  It  was  "  born 
at  sunrise,"  to  use  the  words  of  Phillips  Brooks,  "  dating  its 
life  from  the  days  when  an  order  of  things,  which  is  to  exist 
for  a  long  time  in  the  world,  is  in  the  freshness  of  its  youth."2 
The  bare  record  which  has  come  down  to  us  does  not  tel 
much  of  the  relation  of  the  school  to  that  order  of  things ; 
but  this  will  appear  in  some  measure  as  we  get  farther  on. 

On  the  "  13th  of  the  2d  moneth  1635  "  —  the  twenty-third 
of  April,  by  our  reckoning,  five  years  after  the  settlement  oj 

1  The  documentary  history  of  this  school  is  found  in  NKILL,  History  of  the 
Virginia  Company  of  London,  pp.  251-257.     The  events  recorded  took  place 
during   the   second   year   of  the    Earl  of  Southampton's  directorship,  in  the 
period  in  which  an  enlightened  statesmanship  was  dominant  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Virginia   Company.     Patrick    Copeland   seems   to    have  been  a  man  always 
engaged  in  "some  good  worke."     He  was   at   one   time  appointed   Rector  o 
the   proposed   college   in    Virginia.     At  a  later   time   he   was   interested  in  a 
scheme   for   the   establishment   of  a  college   in    the    Bermuda  Islands,  which 
should  serve,  at  least  in  part,  the  needs  of  Virginia.     It  will   be   rememberec 
that  long  after  this  Bishop  Berkeley  was  interested  in  a  similar  scheme. 

2  The  oldest  school  in  America,  p.  15. 


EARLY  COLONIAL    GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  35 

Boston  —  the  citizens  of  that  town  voted,  "  that  our  brother 
Philemon  Pormont,  shalbe  intreated  to  become  scholemaster, 
for  the  teaching  and  nourtering  of  children  with  us."  1  This 
brother  is  a  shadowy  figure  in  the  dim  annals  of  those  times. 
There  are  several  variant  spellings  of  his  name.  It  is  not 
known  to  a  certainty  that  he  ever  became  the  scholemaster 
of  the  town,  as  he  was  intreated,  but  it  is  probable  that  he 
opened  the  proposed  school,  and  that  he  taught  Latin  in  it 
from  the  start.  Two  or  three  years  after  the  vote  recorded 
above,  he  was  concerned  in  the  controversy  stirred  up  by 
Mrs.  Hutchinson ;  and  he  was  one  of  the  party  of  Mrs.  Hut- 
chinson's  adherents  who  went  out  into  the  wilds  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  founded  the  town  of  Exeter.  Not  many 
years  later  he  was  back  in  Boston. 

The  first  indication  that  appears  of  any  provision  for  the 
support  of  this  school  is  found  in  the  record  of  a  "  general 
meeting  of  the  richer  inhabitants,"  held  August  12,  1636. 
At  this  meeting,  a  subscription  was  made  "towards  the 
maintenance  of  a  free  school  master  for  the  youth  with  us, 
Mr.  Daniel  Maud  being  now  also  chosen  thereunto."  The 
governor,  Sir  Harry  Vane,  contributed  ten  pounds,  and  the 
deputy  governor,  John  Winthrop,  an  equal  amount.  There 
are  forty-three  other  names  on  the  list,  and  the  sum  total 
comes  up  to  £40  6s.2  It  is  not  known  whether  Mr.  Maud 
was  made  assistant  or  successor  t^Pliilftinon  P^Tm^nf;  prob- 
ably the  latter.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Emmanuel  College, 
Cambridge.  A  garden  plot  was  assigned  to  him  the  follow- 
ing year.  The  names  of  other  early  schoolmasters  have 

1  Second  report  of  the  record  commissioners  of  the  City  of  Boston,  pp.  4-5. 
This  meeting  was  highly  characteristic  of  the  old  town  system.  In  addition, 
to  the  vote  relating  to  the  school,  three  other  items  of  business  were  disposed 
of:  The  pastor,  Mr.  John  Wilson,  was  given  liberty  to  improve  a  certain  tract 
of  land;  a  rate  of  five  shillings  a  head  was  fixed  for  the  keeping  of  dry  cattle 
until  the  following  November;  and  it  was  generally  agreed,  "  that  our  brother 
Richard  Fairbanke,  shalbe  intreated  to  take  the  Cowes  to  keeping  that  are 
upon  the  necke  ;  and  in  case  he  cannot  then  our  brother,  Thomas  Wardall,  to 
be  intreated  thereunto." 

*  Second  report  of  the  record  commissioners,  p.  160,  foot-note. 


36  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

been  preserved,  but  they  are  little  more  than  names  down 
to  the  year  1670.  Then  begins  the  long  and  glorious  reign 
of  Ezekiel  Cheever,  and  with  it  the  real  history  of  the  school. 
It  has  been  claimed  that  the  llev.  John  Cotton,  who  came 
to  New  England  in  1633,  was  the  determining  factor  in  the 
establishment  of  this  school,  and  the  claim  would  seem  to 
have  a  pretty  good  foundation.  Cotton  had  already  made  a 
great  reputation  as  a  preacher  in  the  Boston  of  Old  England, 
and  there  he  had  been  closely  identified  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  free  grammar  school  established  by  Queen  Mary 
in  1554.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  in  this  country  he 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony.  His  name  appears  on  the  subscription  list  for  the 
support  of  a  schoolmaster,  though  with  only  a  dash  after  it. 
In  his  will,  he  provided  that,  under  certain  contingencies, 
one-half  of  his  estate  should  revert  to  Harvard  College  and 

o 

the  other  half  be  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  free  school 
in  Boston  (Massachusetts).1 

Public  provision  was  made  at  an  early  day  for  the  support 
of  the  school.  The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  had 
granted  to  the  town  of  Boston  several  of  the  islands  in 
Boston  harbor.  In  1641  the  town  set  apart  one  of  these, 
Deer  Island,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  free  school.  In  1649, 
two  others,  Long  and  Spectacle  Islands,  were  set  apart  for 
$ie  same  purpose.  There  are  numerous  entries  in  the  town 
records  referring  to  the  rent  of  these  islands.  For  a  single 
example,  in  1644,  Deer  Island  was  rented  for  three  years  at 
£7  a  year,  for  the  benefit  of  the  school.2  Another  public 
appropriation  for  the  same  object  was  made  in  1649,  when 
five  hundred  acres  of  land  belonging  to  the  town  and  situ- 
ated at  Braintree  were  disposed  of  by  a  perpetual  lease,  at  a 
rental  of  forty  shillings  a  year  "  for  the  school's  use."  3 

- l  The  argument,  presented  by  the  Rev.  Robert  C.  Waterston  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society  in  February,  1873,  is  reproduced  in  full  by  Mr. 
JENKS  in  his  Historical  sketch.  Cf.  Proc.  Mass.  Historical  Society,  1871-1873, 
pp.  386-391. 

2  Se'ond  report  of  ihe  record  commissioners,  p.  82. 

»  Id. ,  p.  95. 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  37 

In  addition  to  all  this,  we  find  occasional  reference  to  be- 
quests for  the  benefit  of  the  school,  from  which  it  realized 
some  small  increase  of  its  resources.  It  is  not  clear  that 
tuition  fees  were  charged  in  the  earlier  days ;  but  in  1679  a 
recommendation  was  passed  that  such  patrons  of  the  school 
as  were  able  to  pay  something  should  make  contributions  for 
the  encouragement  of  the  master.  At  the  same  time  it  was 
expressly  provided  that  Indian  children  should  be  taught 
gratis.! 

We  find  this  institution  marked,  from  these  early  begin- 
nings, by  two  clear  characteristics :  It  was  a  town  school, 
*and  it  prepared  boys  for  admission  to  Harvard  College. 
These  facts  have  been  pointed  out  with  pride  by  eminent 
Latin  School  boys.  "  It  may  be  merely  a  fancy  of  mine," 
says  Edward  Everett  Hale,  "that  the  destinies  of  Boston 
have  been  largely  affected  by  the  establishment  here  in  1635 
of  what  they  called  a  '  Grammar  School,'  and  by  the  loyalty 
arid  pride  by  which  that  School  has  always  been  maintained. 
But  I  think  this  fancy  will  bear  examination."2  "  It  repre- 
sented," said  Phillips  Brooks  in  his  anniversary  address,  "  the 
fundamental  idea  of  the  town  undertaking  the  education  of 
her  children."  3  And  again  :  "  It  was  the  classic  culture  in 
those  earliest  days  that  bound  the  Latin  School  and  Harvard 
College  close  together.  The  college  is  young  beside  our  ven- 
erable school.  It  did  not  come  to  birth  till  we  were  four 
years  old.  But  when  the  college  had  been  founded,  it  and 
the  school  became,  and  ever  since  have  made,  one  system  of 
continuous  education."4 

Other  Massachusetts  towns,  as  if  moved  by  a  common 
impulse,  soon  took  action  similar  to  that  of  Boston.  Charles- 
town,  in  June,  1636,  agreed  with  Mr.  William  Witherell 
"  to  keep  a  school  for  a  twelvemonth."  He  was  to  receive 
£40  for  the  year.  Lovell's  Island  was  granted  to  the  town 

1  JENKS,  op.  cit.t  p.  6. 

2  Article  cm  The  higher  life  of  Boston,  in  The  Outlook,  liii.,  no.  13,  March 
28,  1896. 

8  The  oldest  school  in  America,  p.  25. 
*  Id.,  p.  38. 


38  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

by  the  General  Court,  and  was  leased  for  the  benefit  of 
the  school.  In  1647,  the  rental  of  the  island  was  five 
pounds,  and  fifteen  pounds  additional  was  raised  by  a  towni 
rate  ;  "  also,  the  town's  part  of  the  Mistic  weir  for  the  School  I 
forever."  In  1659,  the  General  Court  granted  the  town  one 
thousand  acres  of  land  for  the  benefit  of  the  grammar  school.1 1 
Ezekiel  Cheever  was  master  of  this  school  from  1661  to 
1670 ;  and  Benjamin  Thompson,  another  celebrated  teacher, 
was  engaged  in  1671,  at  thirty  pounds  per  annum.2 

Of  Ipswich,  it  is  recorded  that,  in  1636,  "  A  Grammar 
School  is  set  up,'but  does  not  succeed."  But  in  1651,  cer- 
tain town  lands  were  turned  over  to  trustees  for  the  benefit 
of  a  grammar  school,  and  later  the  school  was  endowed 
with  certain  lands  by  Robert  and  William  Paine.  This  is 
another  of  the  spots  where  Ezekiel  Cheever  tarried  and 
taught  on  his  way  to  the  Boston  Latin  School.  He  was 
master  in  Ipswich  for  ten  years,  1651—1661,  and  here  he 
built  a  barn  and  planted  an  orchard.3 

In  1 637,  the  Rev.  John  Fisk  opened  a  school  in  Salem ; 
and  in  1640,  at  "  A  generall  towne  meeting,  yong  Mr.  Norris 
[was]  chose  by  this  assembly  to  teach  schoole."  This  Mr. 
Norris  seems  to  have  taught  for  more  than  thirty  years  in 
Salem.  The  town  was  deeply  interested  in  education.  Even 
before  a  grammar  school  is  mentioned  in  the  records,  refer- 
ence is  made  to  a  project  "  for  the  building  of  a  colledge  ; " 
and  later  records  show  repeated  appropriations  in  aid  of 
Harvard  College.4 

Dorchester,  wonderfully  enterprising  town  that  it  was 
in  many  ways,  voted  on  the  twentieth  of  May,  1639,  old 
style,  "  that  there  shall  be  a  rent  of  201b  a  year  for  ever 
imposed  vpon  Tomsons  Island  .  .  .  towards  the  maynte- 

1  Records  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  iv.,  part 
1,  p.  400. 

2  BARNARD'S  Am,  Journ.   Ed.,  xxvii.,  p.   127;  the  same  repeated,  Am. 
Journ.  Ed.,  xxviii.,  p.  134. 

8  FELT,  History  of  Ipswich,  pp.  83-84.  HAMMATT,  The  grammar  school 
at  Ipswich. 

*  JOSEPH  B.  FELT,  in  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  xxvii.,  p.  97  ff. 


EARLY  COLONIAL    GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  39 

nance  of  a  schoole  in  Dorchester.  This  rent  of  201b  yearly 
to  bee  payd  to  such  a  schoole-master  as  shall  vnder- 
take  to  teach  english,  latine,  and  other  tongues,  and  also 
writing.  The  said  schoole-master  to  bee  chosen  from  tyme 
to  tyme  pr  the  freemen."  Thompson's  Island  was  lost  to 
the  town  in  a  suit  at  law  in  1648 ;  but  the  loss  was  made 
good  by  a  grant  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  elsewhere, 
from  the  General  Court,  afterwards  confirmed  by  the  provin- 
cial government.  In  the  mean  time  the  school  went  on, 
and  in  1645  the  town  introduced  the  innovation  of  a  school 
committee,  to  have  charge  of  its  affairs.  It  was  ordered,  in 
town  meeting,  "  that  three  able  and  sufficient  men  of  the 
Plantation  shalbe  chosen  to  bee  wardens  or  ourseera  of  the 
Schoole,  who  shall  haue  the  Charge,  ouer-sight  and  ordering 
thereof,  and  of  all  things  Concerning  the  same." 

"So  far  as  is  known,"  said  Dr.  William  A.  Mowry,  in 
1889,  "  this  committee  of  '  Wardens  or  overseers  '  was  the 
first  school  committee  appointed  by  any  municipality  in  this 
country."  1  With  somewhat  less  of  certainty  it  is  claimed 
by  various  writers  that  the  school  is  the  "  first  public  school 
in  the  world  supported  by  direct  taxation  or  assessment  on 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town."2 

At  Newbury,  in  1639,  "  foure  akers  of  upland"  and  "sixe 
akers  of  salt  marsh"  were  granted  to  Anthony  Somerby 
"  for  his  encouragement  to  keepe  schoole  for  one  yeare."  In 
1652  a  town  rate  of  twenty  pounds  a  year  was  voted  for  the 
master,  a  school  committee  was  appointed,  and  some  sign  given 
of  a  stirring  of  conscience  in  the  matter  of  a  school  house. 
The  next  year  the  town  rate  was  raised  to  twenty-four 
pounds,  but  it  was  decided  that  the  school  should  be  kept 
at  the  meeting  house.3 

The  early  history  of  the  grammar  school  at  Cambridge,  is 

1  Dorchester  celebration,  p.  30. 

2  Quoted  Id.,   p.  21.     A  competent  public  commission  appointed  some 
years  ago  in  Massachusetts  to  set  at  rest  the  question  where  the  first  free  pub- 
lic school  came  into  being,  was  unable  to  arrive  at  any  final  answer,  for  lack 
of  clear  documentary  evidence. 

•  COFFIN,  History  of  Newbury,  pp.  32,  56-57. 


40  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

the  history  of  that  famous  master,  Elijah  Corlett.  "  The 
Edifice  [of  Harvard  College],"  according  to  that  old  pamphlet, 
New  England's  first  fruits,  "  is  very  f aire  and  comely  within 
and  without.  .  .  .  And  by  side  of  the  Colledge  a  faire  Gram- 
mar Schoole,  for  the  training  up  of  young  Schollars,  and  fit- 
ting them  for  Academicall  Learning,  that  still  as  they  are 
judged  ripe,  they  may  be  received  into  the  Colledge  of  this 
Schoole.  Master  Corlet  is  the  Mr.,  who  hath  very  well  ap- 
proved hirnselfe  for  his  abilities,  dexterity  and  painfulnesse 
in  teaching  and  education  of  the  youth  under  him." 

This  was  in  1643.  How  much  earlier  Corlett  was  there 
we  do  not  know,  but  he  continued  in  the  service  till  his 
death  in  February,  1686-7.  He  had  few  students,  some 
of  them  Indians,  and  he  was  "  very  poor."  But  the  General 
Court  made  a  grant  of  two  hundred,  and  later  five  hundred, 
acres  of  land  for  his  relief ;  and  Cotton  Mather  joined  his 
name  with  that  of  Ezekiel  Cheever,  in  a  couplet  that  has 
been  much  worn  by  repetition.1  The  General  Court,  more- 
over, coupled  Cambridge  with  Charlestown  in  an  act,  already 
referred  to,  granting  to  each  of  those  towns  one  thousand 
acres  of  land  for  the  support  of  a  grammar  school.2 

"  The  Free  Schoole  in  Eoxburie  "  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  these  early  foundations.  It  was  established  in 
1645  under  an  agreement  entered  into  by  numerous  citizens. 
The  text  of  this  old  covenant  has  been  preserved : 

"  Whereas,  the  Inhabitantes  of  Roxhurie,  in  consideration  of 
their  relligeous  care  of  posteritie,  have  taken  into  consideration  how 
necessarie  the  education  of  theire  children  in  Literature  will  be  to 
fitt  them  for  public  service,  both  in  Churche  and  Common wealthe, 
in  succeeding  ages.  They  therefore  unanimously  have  consented 
and  agreed  to  erect  a  free  schoole  in  the  said  Towne  of  Roxburie, 
and  to  allow  Twenty  pounds  per  annum  to  the  Schoolemaster,  to 
bee  raised  out  of  the  Messuages  and  part  of  the  Lands  of  the 
severall  donors  (Inhabitantes  of  the  said  Towne)  in  severall  pro- 

1  See  p.  112. 

2  Records  of  Massachusetts,  iv.,  pt.  1,  pp.  397,  400.     Cf.  PAIGE,  History  of 
Cambridge,  pp.  365-369. 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  41 

portions  as  hereafter  followeth  under  theire  handes.  And  for  the 
well  ordering  thereof  they  have  chosen  and  elected  some  Feoffees 
who  shall  have  power  to  putt  in  or  remove  the  Schoolemaster,  to 
see  to  the  well  ordering  of  the  schoole  and  schoolars,  to  receive 
and  pay  the  said  twenty  pounds  per  annum  to  the  Schoolemaster, 
and  to  dispose  of  any  other  gifte  or  giftes  which  hereafter  may  or 
shall  bo  given  for  the  advancement  of  learning  and  education  of 
children.  .  .  . 

"  In  consideration  of  the  premises,  the  Donors  hereafter  ex- 
pressed for  the  severall  proportions  or  annuities  by  them  volun- 
tarily undertaken  and  underwritten.  Have  given  and  granted  and 
by  these  presents  doe  for  themselves  their  heires  and  Asignees 
respectively  hereby  give  and  grant  unto  the  present  Feoffees  .  .  . 
the  severall  rents  and  summes  hereafter  expressed  under  their 
handes.  ...  To  have  and  to  hould  receive  and  enjoy  the  said 
annual  rents  or  summes  to  the  only  use  of  the  Free  Schoole  in 
Roxburie." 

So  run  the  opening  paragraphs. 

The  half-public,  half-private  character  of  this  movement 
is  noteworthy.  By  mutual  agreement,  a  large  part,  perhaps 
all,  of  the  householders  of  the  towr^  imposed  upon  their  prop- 
erty a  permanent  burden,  much  in  the  nature  of  a  public  tax, 
for  the  support  of  a  school.  In  1666  it  was  proposed  that 
the  whole  town  as  then  constituted  "  come  in  and  join  in  this 
work ; "  but  a  town  meeting,  held  to  consider  this  proposal, 
was  productive  of  much  talk  "  and  nothing  done." 

A  teacher  was  employed  for  the  year  1650  —  the  first  of 
which  there  is  record  —  at  a  salary  of  twenty-two  pounds. 
The  school  received  various  gifts  from  time  to  time.  Mr. 
Thomas  Bell,  who  had  been  a  freeman  of  the  town,  but  had 
returned  to  London  after  some  years  in  the  colony,  died  in 
1671, leaving  to  a  board  of  trustees  nearly  two  hundred  acres 
in  Roxbury  "  to  and  for  the  maintenance  of  a  Schoolemaster 
and  free  schoole  for  the  teaching  and  instructing  of  poore 
mens  children  at  Roxbury."  This  valuable  endowment  was 
doubtless  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  school  already 
established,  and  was  so  employed. 


42  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

John  Eliot,  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians,  was  teaching  elder 
of  the  church  in  Koxbury,  and  one  of  the  first  trustees  of 
the  Bell  endowment.  He  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  pro- 
moters of  education  in  the  colony.  Cotton  Mather  wrote  of 
him: 

"A  Grammar- School  he  would  always  have,  upon  the  Place, 
whatever  it  cost  him ;  and  he  importun'd  all  other  Places  to  have 
the  like.  I  can't  forget  the  Ardour  with  which  I  once  heard  him 
pray,  in  a  Synod  of  these  Churches,  which  met  at  Boston  to  con- 
sider, How  the  Miscarriages  which  were  among  us  might  be  prevented; 
I  say  with  what  Fervour  he  uttered  an  Expression  to  this  purpose, 
Lord,  for  Schools  every  where  among  us  !  That  our  Schools  may 
flourish  /  That  every  Member  of  this  Assembly  may  go  home  and 
procure  a  good  School  to  be  encouraged  in  the  Town  where  he  lives  ! 
That  before  we  die,  we  may  be  so  happy  as  to  see  a  good  School  en- 
couraged in  every  Plantation  of  the  Country.  God  so  "blessed  his 
Endeavors,  that  Roxbury^  could  not  live  quietly  without  a  Free 
School  in  the  Town ;  and  the  Issue  of  it  has  been  one  thing,  which 
has  made  me  almost  put  the  Title  of  Scola  Illustris  upon  that  little 
Kursery ;  that  is,  that  Roxbury  has  afforded  more  Scholars,  first  for 
the  Collegej  and  then  for  the  Publick,  than  any  Town  of  its  Bigness, 
or  if  I  mistake  not,  of  twice  its  Bigness,  in  all  New  England."  l 

So  these  seven  or  eight  littl^  pioneer  towns  got  their 
grammar  schools  started  within  the  first  sixteen  years  that 
~j  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  was  in  existence.  After  this 
the  General  Court  of  the  Colony  took  a  hand  in  the  move- 
ment, and  provided  that  all  of  the  larger  towns  should  do 
what  had  been  so  well  done  by  these  more  advanced  com- 
munities. The  account  of  such  colonial  action  belongs  to 
another  part  of  this  story. 

There  is  a  fine  sense  of  free  initiative  in  the  way  those 
early  towns  set  about  the  erection  of  schools.  No  two  were 
wholly  alike  in  the  action  taken;  yet  all  agreed  in  the 

*  Magnolia,  etc.,  book  3,  p.  187  in  the  original  edition.  For  the  Rox- 
bury school  in  general,  see  DILLAWAY,  "  The  free  schoole  of  1645  in 
Koxburu." 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  43 

y 

determination  to  have  schools  —  the  best  that  they  could 
make.  One  misses  the  real  human  interest  of  these  Puri- 
tan undertakings,  in  failing  to  see  the  creative  joy  which 
possessed  the  Puritan  spirit.  No  artist  of  any  age  has 
painted  his  picture  or  shaped  his  statue  with  more  of  the 
sheer  delight  of  making  than  these  sombre  men  enjoyed  in 
establishing  a  new  civil  and  ecclesiastical  polity,  in  organiz- 
ing new  towns  and  setting  up  new  schools. 

They  were  men  of  a  renaissance  which  had  not  yet  spent 
its  force.  Every  renaissance  is  a  new-born  devotion  to  the 
standards  of  excellence  set  up  in  some  former  age,  when  our 
civilization  rose,  wave-like,  to  some  crest  of  perfected  achieve- 
ment. What  we  call  The  Renaissance  brought  forth  a  new 
enthusiasm  for  the  literatures  of  old  Greece  and  Rome.  But 
the  renaissance  led  by  Luther  and  Calvin  brought  forth  a  no 
less  devoted  enthusiasm  for  the  old  Hebrew  and  Christian 
literatures.  If  the  pagan  renaissance  was  more  beautiful, 
the  Christian  renaissance  was  more  moral.  The  two  were 
divergent  enough  at  many  points.  Our  colonial  Puritans 
were  often  neglectful  of  beauty ;  but  they  were  capable  of 
that  same  glorious  inconsistency  with  which  the  Church  in 
other  formative  epochs  has  made  the  pagan  world  her 
schoolmaster,  to  bring  men  to  Christ.  So  they  set  up 
schools  that  were  at  once  Christian  and  classical.  Like  all 
true  men  of  the  renaissance  they  wrought,  to  the  best  of 
their  ability,  in  the  spirit  of  a  golden  age  long  past;  but 
•With  much  unsuspected  intluence  from  the  age  in  which 
they  lived,  and  with  open  and  honest  endeavor  to  build  for 
ages  yet  to  come.  And  like  all  makers  from  the  beginning, 
they  looked  upon  their  work  and  saw  that  it  was  good. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  establishment  of  schools 
by  towns  was  an  altogether  new  thing  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  The  sense  of  municipal  responsibility  for  the  sup- 
port of  schools  may  be  found  we,ll  back  in  the  middle  ages. 
The  early  appearances  of  this  spirit  in  Scotland,  and  in  the 
German  cities,  have  been  brought  to  light  in  a  number  of 
investigations.  It  has  been  shown,  too,  that  a 


44  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

like  spirit  was  present  in  the  old  English  towns.  If  the 
ancient  Germanic  communities  did  not  set  up  schools,  they 
did  provide  for  the  keeping  of  the  cows ;  and  we  find  these 
two  interests  jostling  each  other  in  the  early  history  of 
Boston. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  go  on  telling  much  of  the  early 
history  of  one  colonial  school  after  another;  but  enough 
must  be  told  to  show  how  the  beginnings  were  made  in  the 
several  colonies,  in  order  that  we  may  catch  some  general 
view  of  the  relation  of  this  type  of  education  to  the  colonial 
life.  And  next,  Connecticut,  which  stands  in  the  closest 
spiritual  sympathy  with  Massachusetts. 

We  meet  Ezekiel  Cheever  at  the  very  beginning,  in  New 
Haven  Colony.  At  a  general  court,  held  "the  25th  of  12th 
Mon:  1641,  [March  7,  1642,  by  our  reckoning]  ...  .  Itt  is 
ordered  thatt  a  free  schoole  shall  be  sett  vp  in  this  towne, 
and  or  pastor  Mr.  Davenport,  together  w4i  the  magistrates 
shall  consider  whatt  yearly  allowance  is  meete  to  be  given 
to  itt  out  of  the  como  stock  of  the  towne,  and  allso  whatt 
rules  and  orders  are  meet  to  be  observed  in  and  about  the 
same."  Mr.  Cheever  was  made  master  of  this  school;  and 
here  he  continued  until  1650,  when  he  removed  to  Ipswich, 
doubtless  because  of  a  church  censure  passed  upon  him  in 
1649  on  account  of  "  his  contradicting,  stiff,  and  proud 
frame  of  spirit."  l 

Of  the  remaining  four  towns  included  within  the  New 
Haven  Colony,  Guilford  was  not  later  than  1646  in  estab- 
lishing a  school ;  and  by  1657  Milford  had  "  made  provision 
in  a  comfortable  way."  It  does  not  appear  whether  these 


1  There  is  some  confusion  in  current  accounts  of  this  early  school  at  New 
Haven.  The  records  seem  to  indicate  pretty  plainly  that  a  grammar  school 
was  first  established  by  the  vote  of  February  25,  1641-2,  as  given  above,  and 
that  this  school  was  in  continuous  existence,  as  a  grammar  school,  for  some 
years  thereafter.  See  Records  of  the  colony  and  plantation  of  New  Haven, 
I.,  pp.  30,  62,  210.  Various  other  interpretations  of  the  record  may  be  found 
in  BARNARD'S  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  I.,  p.  298  ;  Rep't  Com'r  of  Ed.,  1892-93,  p. 
1243  (Professor  HINSD ALE'S  account) ;  and  STEINER,  Education  in  Connec- 
ticut, pp.  15-16. 


EARLY  COLONIAL    GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  45 

schools  were  of  a  higher  grade,  or  merely  for  beginners. 
But  in  1660,  their  means  not  being  adequate  to  the  main- 
tenance of  a  grammar  school  in  each  plantation,  the  towns 
united  in  the  establishment  of  a  "  colony  grammar  school." 
This  school  continued  for  only  two  years. 

In  both  Hartford  and  New  Haven  there  is  some  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  schools  as  early  as  1639.  Certain  it  is 
that  Hartford  in  1642  made  an  appropriation  to  a  town 
school.  The  town  records  show  that,  December  6,  "  It  is 
agreed  that  thurte  pownd  a  yeer  shall  be  seatled  vpon  the 
scoole  by  the  towne  for  efer."  Furthermore,  "  At  a  ginerall 
Toune  metting  in  Apriell  1643  It  was  ordered  y*  mr  Androwes 
Sholld  teach  the  chilldren  in  the  Scoole  one  yere  nextt  en- 
sewing  from  the  2o  of  march,  1643,  &  y*  he  Shall  haue  for 
his  paynes  161  &  tharefore  the  Tounsmen  Shall  go  &  inquier 
who  will  ingeage  them  Selues  to  Send  thare  childeren  & 
all  yl  do  So  Shall  pay  for  one  Querter  at  the  leaste  &  for 
more  if  thay  do  send  them  after  the  pportion  of  twenty 
shilings  the  yeare."  The  town  made  provision  for  those 
whose  parents  were  unable  to  pay  ;  "  or  if  The  ingagmentes 
com  not  to  Sixtene  poundes  then  thay  Shall  pay  w*  is  want- 
ing at  the  Tounes  Charges."  l  It  does  not  appear  why  the 
town,  in  selecting  Master  Andrews,  receded  from  the  earlier 
vote  settling  thirty  pounds  a  year  forever  on  the  school. 

We  come  now  to  the  story  of  the  Hopkins  bequest,  which 
greatly  furthered  the  development  of  secondary  education 
in  Connecticut,  and  to  a  less  degree  in  Massachusetts.  Ed- 
ward Hopkins,  a  London  merchant  of  large  business  capacity, 
was  son-in-law  to  Theophilus  Eaton,  and  a  close  personal 
friend  of  the  Eev.  John  Davenport.  He  came  to  New  Eng- 
land, and  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Hartford.  Evi- 

o 

dently  he  was  a  man  of  very  high  character,  and  personally 
likable.  He  was  repeatedly  elected  governor  of  Connecticut 
Colony;  and  in  his  private  affairs  he  was  prospered,  as 
frontier  prosperity  went.  Family  concerns  recalled  him  to 
England,  where  he  was  honored  with  important  offices  under 

1  Hartford  town  votes,  I.,  pp.  63,  65. 


46  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

the  commonwealth.  It  had  been  his  intention  to  return 
to  America,  but  this  was  prevented  by  his  untimely  death 
in  March,  1657— 8.  The  property  which  he  had  acquired  in 
New  England  he  bequeathed  to  New  England.  A  portion 
of  it  went  to  individuals,  but  the  greater  part  was  committed 
to  trustees,  "  in  full  assurance  of  their  trust  and  faithfulness 
in  disposing  of  it  according  to  the  true  intent  and  purpose 
of  me,  the  said  Edward  Hopkins,  which  is,  to  give  some 
encouragement  in  those  foreign  plantations  for  the  breeding 
up  of  hopeful  youths,  both  at  the  grammar  school  and 
College,  for  the  public  service  of  the  country  in  future 
times."  The  trustees  were  four  in  number:  two  New  Haven 
men  and  two  of  Connecticut  Colony.  The  controlling  power 
in  this  board  was  undoubtedly  the  Kev.  John  Davenport  of 
New  Haven. 

It  was,  perhaps,  the  dearest  wish  of  John  Davenport's 
heart  to  see  not  only  a  grammar  school  but  a  college  as 
well  established  in  that  little  frontier  hamlet  of  New  Haven. 
And  the  Hopkins  bequest  lent  new  hope  to  this  project. 
But  the  greatness  of  such  a  scheme  did  not  fit  the  straitened 
circumstances  of  the  little  colony,  and  it  was  reluctantly 
given  up.  Some  part  of  the  income  from  the  trust  fund 
was  bestowed  on  the  colony  grammar  school  during  its  short 
career. 

A  great  church  quarrel  at  Hartford,  which  affected  the 
whole  public  policy  of  Connecticut  Colony,  was  all  this  time 
causing  delay  in  the  final  settlement  of  the  bequest.  Both 
of  the  Hartford  trustees  were  in  the  party  of  the  opposition 
in  this  quarrel,  and  that  party  contemplated  pulling  out  of 
Connecticut  and  going  off  to  make  a  settlement  elsewhere. 
This  plan  was  finally  carried  out,  and  the  new  settlement 
was  established  at  Hadley.  At  length,  in  1664,  an  agree- 
ment with  reference  to  the  Hopkins  matter  was  reached 
and  the  trust  was  distributed  as  follows :  £400  was  given 
to  Hartford,  £412  to  New  Haven,  and  £308  to  Hadley,  for 
the  support  of  schools,  and  £100  to  Harvard  College. 

Governor  Hopkins  had  made  a  separate  bequest  of  £500, 


. 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  4? 


'hich  should  come  into  the  hands  of  the  same  trustees  for 
the  same  purpose,  on  the  death  of  his  wife.  That  unfortu- 
nate woman  had  been  given  to  much  reading  and  writing, 
and  her  husband,  "  being  very  loving  and  tender  of  her,"  as 
the  elder  Winthrop  remarked,  had  indulged  her  in  these 
unwomanly  occupations.  As  a  result,  her  mind  had  become 
deranged ;  and  it  was  her  further  misfortune  to  outlive  her 
gentle  husband  more  than  forty  years.  By  that  time,  the 
original  trustees  were  all  dead  and  gone.  Their  successors 
seem  to  have  made  some  feeble  attempt  to  secure  the  five 
hundred  pounds,  but  nothing  came  of  the  effort.  Then  the 
new  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  which  was 
setting  up  schools  in  the  colonies,  sought  to  have  it  en- 
trusted to  them.  At  this  stage  of  proceedings,  the  auth&ri- 
ties  of  Harvard  College  took  energetic  measures  which  led  to 
the  following  result :  That  a  decree  in  Chancery  was  secured, 
in  1712,  making  over  this  fund,  with  accrued  interest,  to  a 
new  board  of  trustees,  for  the  joint  benefit  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege and  the  Cambridge  Grammar  School.  To  this  day,  Con- 
necticut men  speak  with  admiration,  not  unmixed  with  other 
feeling,  of  the  successful  strategy  which  captured  this  prize 
for  Cambridge.1 

The  administration  of  the  original  Hopkins  fund  may  be 
described  in  few  words.  The  share  assigned  to  New 
Haven  was  devoted  to  the  support  of  a  grammar  school,  the 
trustees  having  made  it  over  to  the  town  for  that  purpose. 
The  Hopkins  Grammar  School  at  New  Haven  has  had  a 
highly  useful  career,  now  nearly  two  hundred  and  forty  years 
in  length.2 

Hartford  voted,  in  1664,  to  place  the  administration  of  its 
portion  of  the  fund  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  of  five. 
This  committee  had  full  discretionary  power,  but  the  town 
reserved  the  right  to  limit  them  by  instructions  from  time 

1  History  of  the  Hopkins  fund,  grammar  school,  and  academy  in  Hadley  ; 
BACON,    The   Hopkins   Grammar  School.      Cf.    BARNARD,    History  of  com- 
mon schools  in  Connecticut;  STRIKER,  History  of  education  in  Connecticut; 
HINSDALE,  Documents  illustrative  of  American  educational  history-. 
a  BACON,  op.  cit. 


48  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

to  time.  A  free  school  was  accordingly  established  on  the 
Hopkins  foundation  in  1665.  During  a  large  part  of  its 
earlier  history,  this  seems  to  have  been  hardly  more  than  a 
primary  school.1 

In  1669,  the  town  of  Hadley,  in  accordance  with  the 
proposal  of  Mr.  Goodwin,  one  of  the  original  trustees,  com- 
mitted the  management  of  her  portion  of  the  fund  to  a 
standing  committee,  of  five,  who  were  empowered  to  fill 
vacancies  in  their  own  number.  Membership  in  this  com- 
mittee was  no  sinecure,  for  the  town  had  ideas  of  its  own 
and  sought  to  drive  the  committee  in  ways  that  it  would 
not  go.  There  had  been  a  school  in  Hadley  from  1665,  for 
the  benefit  of  which  the  town  had  set  apart  "  two  little 
meadows,  next  beyond  the  brook."  This  endowment  also 
came  under  the  control  of  the  committee  of  five.  The  pro- 
perty was  improved  by  building  a  mill  alongside  of  the 
brook ;  and  that  mill  ground  out  a  grist  of  trouble  for  the 
committee  and  the  town.  In  spite  of  everything,  a  classical 
school  of  fair  grade  seems  to  have  been  maintained  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  colonial  period.2 

In  Rhode  Island,  one  hundred  acres  were  set  apart  by 
vote  of  the  colony,  in  1640,  "  for  a  school  for  encouragement 
of  the  poorer  sort,  to  train  up  their  youth  in  learning."  This 
school  was  located  at  Newport,  and  seems  to  have  been  in 
existence  down  to  1774.  Similar  provision  was  made  in 
1663  for  the  town  of  Providence.3 

Grammar  school  education  in  Virginia  did  not  go  down 
once  for  all  with  the  failure  of  the  East  India  School. 
Benjamin  Syms,  a  planter  of  that  colony,  is  distinguished  as 
"the  first  of  emigrant  Englishmen  to  bequeath  an  educa- 
tional endowment  after  the  pattern  set  by  English  philan- 
thropists in  the  ages  before  him."4  By  his  will,  made 

1  Triennial  catalogue  of  the  Hartford  Public  High  School;  article,    The 
Hopkins  bequest  at  Hartford,  in  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVIII.,  p.  185  ff. 

3  JUDD,  Hopkins  school  at  Hadley,  in  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVIII.,  p.  145  ff. 
Cf.  History  of  the  Hopkins  fund,  grammar  school  and  academy  in  Hadley. 

8  TOLMAN,  Higher  education  in  Rhode  Island. 

4  EGGLESTON,  op.  cit.y  p.  221. 


EARLY  COLONIAL    GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  49 

February  12,  1634-5,  he  left  two  hundred  acres  of  land, 
together  with  a  herd  of  eight  milch  cows,  to  found  a  free 
school  in  Elizabeth  Count}7.  The  land  thus  devised  was 
located  on  the  Poquoson,  a  small  river  flowing  into  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  a  mile  or  less  below  the  mouth  of  York 
River.  The  school  was  intended  for  the  instruction  of  the 
children  of  the  parishes  of  Elizabeth  City  and  Kiquotan. 
The  Virginia  Assembly,  in  March,  1642-3,  passed  an  act 
confirming  this  grant.  One  writing  from  Virginia  in  1647 
speaks  in  terms  of  enthusiasm  of  this  foundation,  and  repre- 
sents the  herd  as  having  then  increased  to  forty  milch  cows. 
Thomas  Eaton,  probably  at  some  time  previous  to  1646,  en- 
dowed another  school  with  250  acres  of  land  in  this  same 
region,  "at  the  head  of  Back  river  within  a  mile  of  the 
wading  place,  joining  to  the  beaver  dams."  This  grant 
received  legislative  sanction  in  1730.  The  Syms  and 
Eaton  endowments  were  finally  consolidated,  and  the  income 
therefrom  is  now  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  Hampton 
High  School.  -t 

Capt.  John  Moon,  by  will  proved  in  1655,  gave  four  cows 
for  educational  and  charitable  purposes,  and  a  free  school^ 
seems  to  have  arisen  on  this  foundation  in  Newport  parish, 
Isle  of  Wight  County.  Henry  King,  in  1668,  bequeathed 
one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  same  county  "for  the 
maintainance  of  a  free  school."  Henry  Peasley,  in  1675, 
endowed  a  free  school  in  Gloucester  County,  for  the  benefit 
of  Abingdon  and  Ware  parishes.  This  foundation  consisted 
of  six  hundred  acres  of  land,  ten  cows,  and  one  breeding 
mare.  Several  slaves  were  added  later  by  other  donors. 

No  account  of  secondary  education  in  Virginia  could 
possibly  pass  over  the  many-times-quoted  saying  of  Governor 
Berkeley.  The  Lord  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Plantations, 
in  1671,  had  propounded  to  him  several  inquiries,  among 
them  being  the  following:  "What  course  is  taken  about  the 
instructing  the  people  within  your  government  in  the  Chris- 
tian religion  ?  "  To  this  the  rough-spoken  governor  replied, 
"  The  same  that  is  taken  in  England  out  of  towns ;  every 

4 


50  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

man  according  to  his  own  ability  instructing  his  children. 
...  But,  I  thank  God,  there  are  no  free  schools  and 
printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hundred  years ; 
for  learning  has  brought  disobedience,  and  heresy,  and  sects 
into  this  world,  and  printing  has  divulged  them-  and  libels 
against  the  best  government.  God  keep  us  from  both  ! " 

Of  the  many  commentaries  on  this  report  which  have 
appeared,  perhaps  the  most  sane  and  suggestive  is  that  offered 
by  the  editor  of  the  William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly. 
"  The  facts,"  he  says,  "  prove  that  Berkeley  could  not  have 
meant  that  there  were  no  schools  in  the  colony,  or  no  schools 
giving  gratuitous  instruction  (as  is  understood  now  by  the 
term  free).  As  '  free  school '  then  signified  a  school  affording 
a  liberal  education,  perhaps  he  did  not  choose  to  regard  the 
Syms  or  Eaton  school  as  coming  up  to  this  standard,  since  they 
aspired  to  little  beyond  teaching  the  '  three  E's.'  He  had  in 
mind  such  a  school  as  Eton  or  Harrow,  or  the  colleges  at  the 
universities  in  England.  This  supposition  is  confirmed  by 
the  fact  that,  eleven  years  before  (in  1660),  the  colonial 
Assembly  had  passed  an  act  for  the  founding  of  '  a  college 
and  free  schoole,'  to  which  object  Berkeley,  the  council,  and 
the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  all  subscribed.  This 
free  school  had  not  materialized  as  expected,  and  it  was 
certainly  its  failure  that  was  uppermost  in  Berkeley's  mind 
when  he  said,  in  1671,  that  there  were  no  free  schools  in 
Virginia." J 

The  hoped-for  college  was  finally  established  by  charter 
obtained  from  William  and  Mary  in  February,  1692-3. 
This  was  first  opened  as  a  grammar  school,  and  so  con- 
tinued for  many  years.  Then  it  expanded  into  a  highly 
useful  and  influential  college.  The  real  history  of  secondary 
and  higher  education  in  Virginia  dates  from  this  foundation, 

1  Education  in  colonial  Virginia,  Part  III.,  in  William  and  Mary  College 
Quarterly,  VI.,  p.  83.  Even  this  interpretation  does  not  explain  Berkeley's 
pious  wish  that  they  may  have  no  free  schools  for  a  hundred  years.  Why  not 
at  this  point  fall  back  on  the  simple  supposition  that  Berkeley,  like  many  other 
men,  was  inconsistent,  especially  when  he  came  to  the  intoxicating  occupation 
of  writing  an  official  report ! 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  51 

•hich  was  of  incalculable  value  to  the  higher  life  of  the 
southern  colonies. 

It  appears,  then,  that  in  spite  of  plantation  life,  so  gener- 
ally unfavorable  to  the  building  up  of  schools,  there  were 
lovers  of  learning  in  our  oldest  colony,  and  the  seeds  of 
literary  culture  were  planted  there.  Yet  Mr.  Eggleston  is 
justified  in  his  shrewd  comment  on  the  Virginia  situation : 
"  The  College  of  William  and  Mary  did  not  get  under  way 
until  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  there  was 
no  bishop  on  this  side  of  the  sea  to  induct  men  into  holy 
orders;  the  primitive  statecraft  of  the  colony  needed  no 
other  tongue  than  the  vernacular,  aided  occasionally  by 
Indian  interpreters,  so  that  the  free  Latin  school  of  early 
Virginia  was  a  short  ladder  with  nothing  but  empty  space 
at  the  top  of  it.  Latin  was  studied  merely  as  a  gentleman's 
accomplishment."  l 

The  West  India  Company,  as  early  as  1629,  issued  a 
decree  requiring  the  patroons  and  colonists,  of  New  Nether- 
land  to  "  endeavor  to  find  out  ways  and  means  whereby 
they  may  supply  a  minister  and  schoolmaster."  The  estab- 
lishment of  schools  and  the  appointment  of  schoolmasters 
seem  to  have  depended  on  joint  action  of  the  Company  and 
'the  Classis  (Presbytery)  of  Amsterdam.  An  elementary 
school  was  established  in  1633  in  connection  with  the  church 
at  New  Amsterdam.2  In  1658  we  find  an  effort  making  to 
secure  a  school  of  higher  grade.  The  West  India  Company 
first  suggested  such  a  step  to  the  Director  General  of  the 
colony.  Then  the  burgomasters  and  schepens  sent  back 
a  petition,  in  which,  after  some  reference  to  "  the  great 
augmentation  of  the  youth  in  the  Province,"  it  is  represented 


1  Op.  cit.t  p.  222.  Cf.  MR.  FISKE'S  account  of  early  education  in  Virginia 
in  Old  Virginia  and  her  neighbors,  II.,  pp.  245-253,  and  the  articles  in  the 
William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly  already  referred  to.  The  statutory 
history  of  the  schools  is  to  be  found  in  the  volumes  of  HENING'S  Statutes, 
and  in  the  reprints  given  by  Miss  CLEWS. 

*  This  school  is  still  flourishing  and  is  probably  entitled  to  the  designation 
"  The  oldest  school  in  America."  In  recent  years,  it  has  added  classes  of 
secondary  grade,  so  that  it  now  prepares  boys  for  college. 


52  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

that  "the  burghers  and  inhabitants  are  .  .  .  inclined  to 
have  their  children  instructed  in  the  most  useful  languages, 
the  chief  of  which  is  the  Latin  tongue ;  and  as  there  are 
no  means  to  do  so  here,  the  nearest  being  at  Boston,  in  New 
England,  a  great  distance  from  here,  ...  we  ...  humbly 
request  your  Honors  would  be  pleased  to  send  us  a  suitable 
person  for  master  of  a  Latin  school,  .  .  .  not  doubting  but 
were  such  a  person  here,  many  of  the  neighboring  places 
would  send  their  children  hither  to  be  instructed  in  that 
tongue ;  hoping  that,  increasing  from  year  to  year,  it  may 
finally  attain  to  an  Academy,  whereby  this  place  arriving 
at  great  splendor,  your  Honors  shall  have  the  reward  and 
praise,  next  to  God  the  Lord  who  will  grant  his  blessing 
to  it." 

The  petition  was  granted,  and  Alexander  Carolus  Curtius, 
a  Lithuanian  schoolmaster,  was  engaged  for  the  new  school, 
at  a  salary  of  five  hundred  florins  a  year.  Curtius  appeared 
before  the  burgomasters  July  4,  1659.  The  city  promptly 
added  two  hundred  florins  a  year  to  his  salary,  and  after 
some  haggling  about  further  additions,  the  school  was  begun. 
But  all  did  not  go  smoothly.  The  new  rector,  for  so  he 
was  called,  got  into  a  lawsuit,  which  turned  on  the  question 
whether  he  was  to  pay  five  beavers  or  only  two  beavers  and 
two  blankets  for  a  hog  that  he  had  bought.  The  burgo- 
masters reprimanded  him  for  taking  one  beaver  per  quarter 
from  the  boys,  instead  of  the  six  guilders  they  had  authorized. 
The  parents  complained  that  there  was  no  proper  discipline 
in  his  school.  The  boys  "beat  each  other  and  tore  the 
clothes  from  each  others'  backs."  The  rector  was  able 
to  retort  that  "  his  hands  were  tied,  as  some  of  the  parents 
forbade  him  punishing  their  children."  But  at  last,  in  1661, 
he  was  dismissed,  and  the  Eev.  ^Egidius  Luyck  was  installed 
in  his  place. 

The  new  master  was  a  man  of  a  different  sort.  He  soon 
brought  the  attendance  in  the  school  up  to  twenty,  two  of 
that  number  coming  from  Virginia  and  two  from  Fort 
Orange  (Albany).  After  the  capture  of  the  city  by  the 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  53 

English,  this  school  is  said  to  have  been  continued  for  about 
eight  years.  There  was  no  public  Latin  school  on  Man- 
hattan Island  thereafter,  and  probably  none  in  the  colony 
of  New  York,  until  the  following  century.1 

During  the  governorship  of  Thomas  Dongan,  however, 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  Harvey  and  Harrison  opened  an  institu- 
tion known  as  the  New  York  Latin  School,  which  probably 
flourished  for  several  years.  It  came  to  an  end  with  the 
fall  of  King  James  and  of  the  Roman  Catholic  governor,  in 
1688;  and  no  other  Catholic  school\  appears  in  New  York 
till  after  the  Revolutionary  War.2 

We  find  reference  to  a  private  school  of  this  grade,  kept 
by  Mr.  David  Jamison,  who  had  been  liberally  educated  in 
Scotland.  He  appeared  in  New  York  as  a  "  redemptioner," 
probably  some  time  in  the  sixteen-eighties.  His  services 
were  secured  by  some  of  the  chief  men  of  the  place,  who 
"  set  him  to  teach  a  lattin  school,  which  he  attended  for 
some  time  with  great  industry  and  success."3  Jamison 
later  rose  to  colonial  distinction,  becoming  Secretary  of  the 
;  Province,  and  Chief  Justice  of  New  Jersey. 

Plymouth  Colony  did  not  make  its  beginning  till  1670, 

i  when  the  general  court  set  apart  the  income  from  the  Cape 

;  Cod  fisheries  —  mackerel,  bass,  and  herring  —  for  the  support 

i  of   a   free   school.     In   accordance   with   this    provision,   a 

school  was  established  at  Plymouth.4 

The   strange   medley    of    nationalities    and    religions   in 
Pennsylvania  gave  promise  of  interesting  educational  develop- 
ments.    This  promise  was  fulfilled  in  later  days,  but  the 
\  beginnings  were  made  painfully.     Ttie  proprietary  govern- 
I  ment  proposed  at  the  outset  to  "  erect  and  order  all  public 
1  schools."     But  this  advanced  position  was  soon  abandoned. 

1  PRATT,  Annals  of  public  education.,  in  the  Report  of  the  Regents  of  the 
State  of  New  York  for  1869,  pp.  833,  834,  852-857,  862-865,  886. 

3  CONSIDINE,  Catholic  educational  institutions  in  the  Archdiocese  of  New 
York,  pp.  7-8. 

8  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade.  Quoted  by  PRATT,  Annals  of 
public  education,  Eighty-third  report  of  the  Regents,  p.  670. 

*  Plymouth  colony  records,  V.,  pp.  107-108. 


54  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Even  before  the  grant  to  William  Penn,  there  were  Quakers 
in  the  territory  which  was  to  become  Pennsylvania,  and 
some  of  these  were  taking  thought  for  education  beyond 
that  of  elementary  grade.  George  Fox,  as  early  as  1667, 
advised  the  setting  up  of  a  school  for  boys  at  Waltham 
Abbey,  in  Essex  County.  Here  three  years  later,  Christo- 
pher Taylor,  a  Friend,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  profound 
scholar,  opened  a  classical  school.  He  was,  however,  soon 
brought  before  a  magistrate  on  the  charge  of  teaching  with- 
out a  certificate  from  the  Bishop  of  London,  after  which  he 
returned  to  England.  At  a  later  date  we  find  him  receiving 
a  grant  of  five  thousand  acres  of  land  from  the  Proprietary, 
and  setting  up  a  school  on  "  Tinicum,  alias  College  Island," 
where  he  died  in  1686.  Mr.  Wickersham  says  of  this  Tini- 
cum Island  school, established  in  1684,  that  it  "was  without 
doubt  the  first  school  of  high  grade  in  Pennsylvania."  l 

It  is  said  that  William  Penn,  in  1689,  directed  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  of  Pennsylvania  to  set  up  a  public  gram- 
mar school  in  Philadelphia,  promising  to  incorporate  it  at 
some  later  time.  A  school  was  established  in  that  year  by 
leading  Friends,  which  was  open  to  children  of  all  denomi- 
nations. George  Keith  was  called  from  Freehold,  New 
Jersey,  to  be  the  master.  He  was  a  Friend,  a  learned  man, 
who  had  had  experience  as  a  schoolmaster  in  the  mother 
country.  Later  he  turned  against  the  Quakers  and  became 
the  first  American  agent  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel.  His  salary  as  master  in  Philadelphia  was 
fifty  pounds  a  year,  together  with  all  thb  profits  of  the 
school,  and  a  house  was  provided  for  his  family.  He  was 
to  receive  a  much  higher  salary  the  second  year ;  but  he 
met  with  indifferent  success,  and  was  succeeded  at  the  end 
of  the  first  year  by  his  usher,  Thomas  Makin.  Something 
like  forty  years  after  his  first  appearance  in  the  school,  we 
find  Thomas  Makin  writing  a  Latin  poem  descriptive  of 
Philadelphia.  In  1733,  then  an  old  man  and  very  poor,  he 

1  WICKERSHAM,  Education  in  Pennsylvania,  pp.  26-28,  81,  463. 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  55 

fell  from  a  wharf  into  the  Delaware  Kiver,  and  was  drowned 
before  he  could  be  rescued. 

The  school  seems  to  have  been  managed  for  some  years 
by  a  few  citizens,  without  incorporation.  A  charter  was 
granted  by  Governor  Markham,  in  1697,  which  cannot  now 
be  found.  The  institution  was  rechartered  by  William  Penn 
in  1701,  in  1708,  and  again  in  1711.  It  was  designated  as 
"  The  Public  School  founded  by  Charter  in  the  town  and 
county  of  Philadelphia,  in  Pennsylvania."  This  name  is 
commonly  untangled  by  calling  it  the  "  William  Penn 
Charter  School."  The  overseers  were  given  large  powers 
for  the  establishment  of  branch  schools  of  lower  grade,  and 
through  several  generations  they  conducted  such  schools  for 
the  benefit  of  the  poor  of  Philadelphia.1 

While  Sir  Francis  Nicholson  was  governor  of  Virginia,  he 
not  only  encouraged  and  furthered  the  establishment  of 
William  and  Mary  College,  but  gave  certain  lots  and  houses 
of  his  own  for  the  endowment  of  another  free  school  in  that 
colony.  When  that  active  official  became  governor  of  Macy- 
larid,  he  displayed  in  his  new  field  a  like  zeal  for  religion 
and  education.  At  his  recommendation  an  act  was  passe$ 
by  the  colonial  assembly  providing  for  the  support  of  clergy- 
men of  the  Church  of  England,  and  so  virtually  extending 
the  English  Establishment  to  the  colony.  This  step  was* 
soon  followed  by  the  passage  of  an  act,  also  recommended  by 
the  governor,  "  for  the  erecting  of  free  kschools." 

This  act  was  first  passed  in  1694,  but  was  not  apprc^ed 
until  passed  in  amended  form  in  16964  In  its  final  shape,  it 
provided  "  that  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
education  of  the  youth  of  this  province  in  good  letters  amd 
manners,  that  a  certain  place  or  places,  for  a  free  school  or 
schools,  or  place  of  study  of  Latin,  Greek,  writing,  and  the 
like,  consisting  of  one  master,  one  usher,  and  one  writing 
master  or  scribe,  to  a  school,  and  one  hundred  scholars,  more 
or  less,  according  to  the  ability  of  the  said  free  school,  may 

1   WlCKERSHAM,  Op.  tit.,  pp.   41-50. 


56  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

be  made,  erected,  founded,  propagated  and  established/ 
For  the  management  of  these  schools,  a  corporation  was 
formed,  to  be  known  as  the  Hectors,  Governors,  Trustees,  and 
Visitors  of  the  Free  Schools  of  Maryland.  The  corporation 
was  authorized  to  make  all  necessary  orders  and  rules  for 
the  government  of  schools  ;  but  such  rules  must  not  only  be 
in  accord  with  the  laws  of  England  and  of  Maryland,  but 
also  with  "  the  canons  and  constitutions  of  the  Church  of 
England."  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  made  chan- 
cellor of  these  schools. 

It  was  provided  that  as  soon  as  one  free  school  had  been 
set  up  and  an  income  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  a 
year  secured  for  it,  the  Rectors,  Governors,  etc.,  should  pro- 
ceed to  set  up  a  similar  school  in  another  county  ;  and  so  on 
till  every  county  in  the  province  should  be  provided.  The 
governor,  members  of  the  assembly,  and  others  promptly 
contributed  their  various  amounts  of  tobacco  for  this  laud- 
able undertaking ;  and  duties  were  levied  on  specified  im- 
ports and  exports  for  the  benefit  of  the  schools :  on  liquors, 
furs,  bacon,  etc.  The  outcome  of  these  efforts  was  King 
William's  School  at  Annapolis,  which  eventually  developed 
into  St.  John's  College.  The  original  board  of  trustees  got 
no  further  than  the  establishment  of  this  one  school,  but 
even  so  much  was  great  gain  for  the  colony. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this  was  the 
earliest  effort  in  the  direction  of  secondary  education  that 
wa^made  in  Maryland.  Ralph  Crouch,  we  are  told,  "  opened 
schools  for  teaching  humanities  "  in  the  colony  between  the 
years  1639  and  1659.  Mr.  Crouch  was  closely  associated 
with  the  Jesuits,  and  after  his  return  to  Europe  was  ad- 
mitted to  their  order.  A  priest,  writing  in  1681,  tells  of 
"a  school  for  humanities,"  opened  four  years  before  that 
time,  in  which  some  of  the  native  youth  had  made  good 
progress.1 

1  STEINER,  Address  at  the  alumni  reunion  of  Frederick  College.  Idem, 
History  of  education  in  Maryland.  CLEWS,  Educational  legislation  and  ad- 
ministration, passim. 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  57 

The  facts  presented  in  this  chapter  will  give  some  indica- 
tion of  the  various  ways  in  which  beginnings  were  made  in 
the  establishment  of  grammar  schools  in  several  of  the  colo- 
nies during  the  seventeenth  century.  Thus  far  we  have 
been  chiefly  concerned  with  separate  schools.  An  account 
of  the  organization  of  general  systems  of  education  in  some 
of  the  colonies  is  reserved  for  the  next  chapter. 

The  general  condition  of  these  colonial  schools,  and  the 
nature  and  scope  of  the  instruction  given  in  them,  must  be 
reserved  for  still  later  consideration.  But  one  or  two  of 
their  more  striking  characteristics  may  be  mentioned  here. 
The  schools  were  generally  established  with  distinct  refer- 
ence to  preparation  for  the  more  advanced  studies  of  the 
college.  Sometimes  they  prepared  for  a  college  only  hoped- 
for  as  yet.  But  in  New  England  they  were  tributary  to 
Harvard,  and  later  to  Yale  as  well.  In  Virginia  and  Mary- 
land they  led  up  to  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  when 
at  last  that  college  was  established.  Other  colleges  did  not 
come  into  existence  till  the  second  great  wave  of  interest  in 
things  of  the  higher  life  swept  over  the  colonies. 

The  college  and  the  grammar  school^then,  were  parts  of 
one  educational  system,  though  not  bound  together  in  one 
system  of  administration.  In  both  alike  the  ideal  of  educa- 
tion ,was  an  ideal  of 'public  service.  They  were  established 
to  train  up  young  men  "  for  the  service  of  God,  in  church 
and  commonwealth."  And  the  form  of  public  service  which 
was  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  their  founders  was  the  CJfiris- 
tian  ministry.  Even  preparation  for  the  other  learned  pro- 
fessions and  for  political  life  might  be  left  to  take  care  of 
itself,  but  it  was  felt  to  be  essential  that  a  body  of  educated 
ministers  should  be  trained  up  for  the  public  offices  of  relig- 
ion. We  shall  not  understand  our  educational  development 
if  we  fail  to  see  that  modern  systems  of  education,  like 
much  else  in  our  modern  civilization,  are  deeply  rooted  in 
the  religious  life  of  two  and  three  centuries  ago. 

The  way  in  which  these  modern  systems  have  grown  up 
out  of  that  ecclesiastical  soil  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 


58  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

subjects  with  which  educational  history  has  to  do.  Some 
of  the  beginnings  of  this  development  will  be  noted  in  the 
chapter  next  following. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

Not  much  need  be  added  to  the  book  references  contained  in  the  foot-notes 
to  this  chapter.  Where  these  refer  to  books  which  may  be  regarded  as  be- 
longing to  the  history  of  our  secondary  education,  the  titles  are  included  in 
the  general  bibliography  given  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  Works  having 
only  an  incidental  bearing  upon  this  subject  are  generally  collections  of  re- 
prints of  historical  documents,  or  other  standard  publications,  which  are 
sufficiently  indicated  by  the  short  titles  employed  in  the  foot-notes. 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  the  documentary  material  relating  to  a  few 
schools  and  sections,  carefully  edited  and  published  in  good  shape.  The 
Catalogue  of  1886  of  the  Boston  Latin  School  is  the  most  admirable 
publication  of  this  sort  that  I  have  ever  seen.  DILLAWAY'S  Free  schoole 
in  Roxburie,  and  BACON'S  Hopkins  Grammar  School,  are  valuable.  There  is 
an  interesting  collection  of  reprints  in  the  History  of  the  Hopkins  fund, 
etc.,  a  publication  authorized  by  the  trustees  of  the  Hopkins  Academy 
at  Hadley.  PRATT 's  Annals  bring  together  a  large  part  of  the  available 
first-hand  accounts  of  early  education  in  New  York.  MR.  WICKERSHAM 
evidently  made  use  of  original  materials  in  preparing  his  very  valuable 
history  of  education  in*  Pennsylvania ;  but  his  references  are  not  suf- 
ficiently numerous  and  definite.  The  series  of  Contributions  to  Ameri- 
can Educational  History  edited  by  the  late  PROFESSOR  HERBERT  B.  ADAMS 
and  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Education,  contains  numerous  bibliographies 
which  are  of  value  in  connection  with  this  and  succeeding  chapters. 

DR.  HINSDALE'S  Documents  illustrative  of  American  educational  history  ; 
and  the  more  extensive  work  of  Miss  CLEWS,  Educational  legislation  and 
administration,  are  indispensable  in  such  a  study  as  this. 

A  comprehensive  study  of  documents  relating  to  the  early  history  of 
educational  institutions  in  New  England  has  recently  been  made  hj  MR. 
WALTER  H.  SMALL,  superintendent  of  schools  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
the  results  of  which  were  published  in  The  School  Review,  v.  10,  pp. 
513-531. 

Interesting  references  to  the  educational  activity  of  the  burghs  of 
Scotland  in  mediaeval  times  may  be  found  in  the  works  of  GRANT  and 
EDGAR  referred  to  in  the'  bibliographical  notes  to  chapter  IV ;  and  the 
similar  activity  of  mediaeval  German  towns  is  set  forth  by 

SPECHT,  FRANZ  ANTON.  Geschichte  des  Unterrichtswesens  in  Deutsch- 
land  von  den  altesten  Zeiten  bis  zur  Mitte  des  13ten  Jahrhunderts. 
Stuttgart,  1885.  Pp.  12  -f  411. 


EARLY  COLONIAL   GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS  59 

New  England's  first  fruits  has  been  reprinted  in  Sabin's  Historical 
tracts,  quarto  series,  no.  7  (1865);  and  (in  part)  in  the  Old  South  Leaflets, 
general  series,  no.  51. 

One  of  JOHN  BRINSLEY'S  books,  entitled,  The  consolation  for  our  gram- 
mar schools,  was  prepared  "  for  laying  of  a  sure  Foundation  of  all  good 
Learning  in  our  Schools,  .  .  .  More  especially  for  all  ...  ruder  Coun- 
tries and  Places :  Namely  for  Ireland,  Wales,  Virginia,  with  the  Sommer 
[Bermuda]  Islands.  .  .  .  Especially  for  drawing  the  poor  Natives  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  all  other  of  the  rest  of  the  Rude  and  Barbarous  from  Sathan 
to  God."  The  attention  of  the  Virginia  Company  was  called  to  this  book 
while  the  project  of  the  East  India  School  was  still  before  them.  It  was 
remarked  that  it  had  been  "  compiled  by  a  painefull  schooling  one  Mr.  John 
Brinsley;  whereupon  the  Court  gave  order  that  the  Companie's  thanks 
should  be  giuen  unto  him,  and  appointed  a  select  Committee  to  pruse  the 
said  Booke."  Mr.  Copeland,  who  had  been  admitted  as  a  "free  Brother" 
of  the  Company,  out  of  gratitude  for  his  services,  was  a  member  of  this 
committee.  They  were  to  make  report  of  their  opinion  of  the  book,  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  such  a  report  was  ever  presented.  Cf.  NEILL,  op. 
cit.,  pp.  273,  274. 


* 


CHAPTER  IV 
COLONIAL   SCHOOL   SYSTEMS 

IT  appears  that  the  Maryland  legislature  was  not  content 
with  setting  up  a  single  school  at  Annapolis,  but  proposed 
to  make  this  the  beginning  of  a  comprehensive  system,  em- 
bracing a  similar  school  in  every  county  of  the  colony.  The 
scheme  failed,  to  be  sure,  getting  no  further  than  the  estab- 
lishment of  King  William's  School.  But  the  idea  was  not 
lost,  and  a  colonial  county  system  was  realized  in  the  follow- 
in  «•  Century,  as  we  shall  see.  Even  if  nothing  had  come  of 
it,  buch  legislation  would  be  worthy  of  further  notice. 

For  here  we  have  the  civil  power  undertaking  to  establish, 
nly  a  school,  but  a  territorial  system  of  schools,  at  a 
when   in  the  mother  country  such  a  system  existed 
only  in  a  fragmentary  fashion,  and  that  in  close  dependence 
upon  the  ecclesiastical  establishment.     Besides,  this  action 
of  Maryland's  was  not  the  first  nor  the  most  important  step 
that  the  colonies  had  taken  in  this  direction.    Already  colo- 
nial systems  of  education  were  part  of  the  established  erder 
of  things  in  New  England.    Such  a  break  with  the  past  calls 
for  some  explanation,  especially  as  the  modern  movement  in 
ion  has  so  largely  taken  this  same  direction, 
old  order  of  school  administration  in  England  was 
•described,  in  few  words,  by  DR.  KNIGHT  in  his  Life  of  Colet : 
'The  State  of  Schools  in  London  before  Dean  Colet' s  Foun- 
was  to  this  Effect :  ^s^jChancel/our  of  Paul's  (as  in 
•3    ancient    Cathedral  'Churches)   was   Master  of  the 
;   (Magister   Scholarum)    having    the    Direction    and 
Government  of  Literature,  not  only  within  the  Church,  but 
within  the  whole  City  ;  so  that  all  the  Masters  and  Teachers 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 

of  Grammar  depended  on  him,  and  were  subject  t 
This  describes  the  practice  that  had  been  folio 
turies,  with  many  minor  variations,  in  Roman  Catholic  lands 
The  system  of  church  government  was  an  epis< 
and  the  schools,  like  other  spiritual  concerns,  w 
the  direct  oversight  of  the  See  of  Rome,  were  subje 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  either  directly  or  tin- 
mediate  functionary. 

The  Protestant  movement  was  marked  i-\ 
views  of  the  episcopal  system  of  chui  and 

the  Protestant  reorganization  of  the  id< 

with  grave  practical  difficulties.     Ou  arose 

several  strongly  marked  types  of  >  .  asso- 

ciated with  various  systems  of  Pr  Three 

of  the  most  notable  of  those  types. &4HH|'  the  An- 

glican, the  Lutheran,  and  the  Cal 

These  familiar  facts  are  rev  it 

on  our  educational,  history.      I.  \  inrmation,  a 

decided  movement  toward  thr  ^Hptimial  facili- 

ties was  in  progress  in  varimi  rope,  England 

included.     The  Reformation  us  to  this  move- 

ment through  its  insistei^  nd  that  every 

person  should  understand  idon,  and  that  the 

entrance  upon  that  way  ter'  of  intelligent 

choice.     Secondarily,  it  r  lucational  movement 

in  bfth  PrttesUnt  and  Ctthtlic  countries,  by  making  a  new 
demand  for  such -trail,  i.s  should  successfully 

combat  theological  err  .     But  the  systems  of 

school  administrar  fortunes  of  the  episcopal 

system  of  which  tl>  irt. 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  116. 

2  Not  many  iv  ||    have  need  to  be  reminded  that  the 
word  episcopal  in  its  g<  v  the  adjective  corresponding  to  the 
noun,  bishop.     Yet  I  !  students  who  require  this  explanation. 
An  episcopal  church  is  •••*nmtl"Titi  nf  wln^h  is  rptpterQ^  in  the  office  of 
bishop.    What  endks  ,  have  raged  about  that  office  —  investiture, 
apostolic  surct-s  steeship,   and  many  others,   early  and 
late! 


•rganizai  • 

1  of 

„  form.  The  schools  accordingly  continued  under  episcopal, 
and  therefore  ecclesiastical,  control.  Lutheran  Germany 
was  not  averse  to  the  episcopal  system,  but  was  compelled 
by  circumstances  to  commit  the  episcopal  functions  to  the 

^  hands  of  temporal  princes.  This  arrangement  bridged  the 
passage  of  the  schools  from  ecclesiastical  to  civil  control,  and 
resulted  in  the  building  up  of  strong  state  systems  of  edu- 
cation Calvinism,  finally,  tended  in  varying  degrees  toward 
the  Rejection  of  the- episcopal  system  and  a  virtual  division 
of  the  episcopal  functions  between  representative  presbyteries 
and  synods,  of  th^church  and  a  civil  power  dominated  by 
religious  ideals.  This  system,  too,  facilitated  thej^ransfer  of 
educational  co&tfftl\to  the  civil  authority.  At  the  same  time, 
by  the  stronger  possible  emphasis  on  the  sacred  scriptures 
as  "  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice,"  Calvinism 
pushed  to  the  front  the  demand  for  instruction,  and  particu- 

^  larly  for  linguistic  training.  The  result  was  the  remarkable 
development  of  public,  education  in  Holland  and  Scotland 
and  other  Galvinistic  portions  of  Europe,  and  in  the  Ameri- 
can colonies. 

The  ecclesiastical  and  educational  setting  of  American 
colonization  may  be  briefly  sketched  as  follows  :  The  Puritan 
movement  within  the  English  Church  had  been  very  far- 
reaching  in  the  days  oftEliz*bet>h ;  and  Purittnism  *was 
almost  universally  Calvinistie.  The  Puritans  had  hoped 
for  countenance  and  aid  from  Jame.s  I.,  but  they  discovered 
their  mistake  at  the  very  beginning-  of  his  reign.  James 
proved  himself  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  episcopal  system. 
His  oft-quoted  saying,  "  No  bishop,  no  king,"  was  uttered  at 
the  Hampton  Court  conference,  in  January,  1605.  Even 
earlier  than  this,  the  episcopal  control  ofeeducation  had  been 
expressly  confirmed  in  the  Canons  of  1603.  The  seventy- 
seventh  of  these  Canons  read  as  follows  \\ 

"  No  man  shall  teach  either  in  publike*  schoole,  or  priuate 
house,  but  sucn  as  shall  b.< 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  63 

i,  or  Ordjnarie  of  the  place  vnder  his  hand  &  Seale, 
jund  meete  as  well  for  his  learning  and  dexteritie  in 
teach i.  g,  as  for  sober  and  honest  conuersation,  and  also  for 
right  vnderstanding  of  Gods  true  Religion,  and  also  except 
hee  shall  first  subscribe  to  the  first  and  third  Articles  afore 
mentioned  simply,  and  to  the  two  first  clauses  of  the  second 
Article." 

All  shades  °tJSfejp-u^  belief  were  represented  in  the 
movement  towam. Arnerie^irrEEe^seventeenth  century ;  but 
the  most  vitally  and  widely  influential  was  undoubtedly  the 
Calvinism  of  the  Puritans,  which  appeared  not  only  in  New- 
England,  but  penetrated  almost  every  region,  and  made1 
itself  felt  in  the  affairs  of  all  of  the  earlier  colonies.  While 
the  first  Puritans  were  devoted  adherents  of  the  Church  o 
England,  the  progress  of  events  on  both  sides  of  the  water 
tended  to  drive  them  into  separatism.  This  tendency  went 
its  full  length  more  quickly  in  the  colonies  than  in  the 
mother  country,  and  the  distinctively  Puritan  colonies' 
soon  far  beyond  the  reach  of  any  sort  of  ecclesiastical  control; 
from  the  side  of  the  English  Church.  For  a  long  period 
such  control  was,  in  truth,  but  little  felt  in  ^ny  of  the 
colonies. 

For  various  reasons,  no  bishopric ,  oi  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land  was  set  up  in  America.  Such  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction* 
as  was  exercised  by  that  Church  in  this  country  was  in  the 
1  lands  of  the  Bishop  of  London.  This  seems  to  have  been 
an  informal  arrangement;1  but  it  was  the  ground  of  the 

1  "Tin1  five  clergymen,  who  might  have  been  sufficient  for  the  colony  had 
it  remained  concentrated  in  Jamestown  and  its  immediate  vicinity,  were  un- 
able to  reach  with  their  spiritual  ministrations  so  scattered  a  flock.  The 
Virginia  council,  therefore,  applied  to  the  Bishop  of  London  to  assist  them 
in  providing  '  pious,  learned,  and  painful  ministers.'  The  bishop  was  forth- 
with chosen  a  member  of  the  King's  council  for  Virginia  ;  and,  as  the  result  of 
Bishop  King's  personal  and  official  interest  and  love,  the  spiritual  jurisdiction 
of  the  Bishop  of  London  was  henceforth  continuously  recognised  in  America 
during  the  whole  period  of  its  colonial  history,  though  no  special  measures 
it  this  time,  or  ever,  adopted  to  formally  incorporate  Virginia,  or  any 
Jean  colony,  within  the  diocese  of  London."  —  TIFFANY,  History  of  the 
'  '  "  "  ''  '  '"-'•"  p  °4 


64  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

claim  occasionally  met  with  that  no  schoolmaster  should 
be  allowed  to  teach  in  this  country  who  did  not  holt  the 
Bishop  of  London's  certificate  (under  the  provisions  of  the 
canon  quoted  above).  Such  is  the  explanation  of  the  cl  sing 
of  Mr.  Taylor's  school  in  Pennsylvania.1  The  instructions 
issued  to  Governor  Dongan  of  New  York,  in  1686,  cont, 
the  following  injunction :  "  And  wee  doe  further  direct  that 
noe  Schoolmaster  bee  henceforth  permitted  to  come  from 
England  &  to  keep  school  within  Our  Province  of  New  York 
without  the  license  of  the  said  Archbishop  of  Canterbury." 
Similar  instructions  were  issued  to  Governor  Slough ter  in 
1689,  to  the  Earl  of  Bellomont  in  1697,  and  to  Governor 
Hunter  in  1709 ;  but  these  all  required  the  license  of  the 
^  Bishop  of  London  instead  of  that  of  the  Archbishop.2 

Jltwas  mJN^w  Tf.nglflprl  that  t.fre  power  of  the_JEnglish 
CTmrch  was  weakest  andCalvinism  at  its  height.  What 
!sh  Puritans  dreamed  of  as  of  things  far  off,  their  friends 
in  New  England  could  forthwith  bring  to  pass.  The  plan 
of  government  drawn  up  by  the  democratic  party*  in  Eng- 
land in  1647  declared,  with  reference  to  Parliament,  "  That 
matters  of  Religion,  and  the  wayes  of  God's  worship,  are  not 
at  all  intrusted  by  us  to  any  humane  power,  .  .  .  neverthe- 
lesse  the  publike  way  of  instructing  the  Nation  (so  it  be  not 
compulsive)  is  referred  to  their  discretion."3  That  same 
year,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  passed  its  epoch- 
making  act  providing  for  public  instruction. 
This  act  read  as  follows : 

"  It  being  one  cheife  piect  of  y*  ould  deluder,  Satan,  to  keepe  men 
from  the  knowledge  of  ye  Scriptures,  as  in  formr"times  by  keeping 
yra  in  an  unknowne  tongue,  so  in  these  lattr  times  by  pswading  from 
ye  use  of  tongues,  y*  so  at  least  y"  true  sence  &  meaning  of  ye  ori#i- 
nall  might  be  clouded  by  false  glosses  of  saint  seeming  deceivers, 
y*  learning  may  not  be  buried  in  ye  grave  of  or  fathrs  in  ye  church 
&  commonwealth,  the  Lord  assisting  or  endeavo's,  — 

1  See  p.  54. 

2  PRATT,  Annals  of  education  in  New  York,  pp.  69-70. 
i  TI^O   ™,.~   <'~eument,  entitle!    "  ' 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  65 

"  It  is  therefore  ord'ed,  y*  evry  towneship  in  this  iurisdiction, 
aft'  ye  Lord  hath  increased  ym  to  y'  number  of  50  houshold™, 
shall  then  forthwth  appoint  one  wthin  their  towne  to  teach  all  such 
children  as  ^hall  resort  to  him  to  write  and  reade,  whose  wages 
shall  be  paid  eith'  by  y*  parents  or  mast"  of  such  children,  or  by 
ye  inhabitants  in  gen'all,  by  way  of  supply,  as  ye  maior  pt  of  those 
y*  ordr  y*  prudentials  of  y*  towne  shall  appoint ;  pvided,  those 
y*  send  their  children  be  not  oppressed  by  paying  much  more  yn 
they  can  have  ym  taught  for  in  othr  townes ;  &  it  is  furth*  ordered, 
y*  where  any  towne  shall  increase  to  ye  numbr  of  100  families  or 
househould' ,  they  shall  set  ur  q  pirnfritfr-ad^oleTy*  mr Thereof 
being  able  to  instruct  youth  so  farr  as  they  may  be  iiiied  1'or  y  uni- 
versity,  pvided,  y*  if  any  towne  neglect  y*  pformance  hereof  above 
one  yeare,  y*  every  such  towne  shall  pay  5*  to  y*  next  schoole  till 
they  shall  pforme  this  order." 1 

This  was  the  first  act  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  pro- 
viding for  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  but  not  the 
first  act  relating  to  education.^^.Harvard  College  had  been 
established,  and  provision  made  for  its  support  and  manage- 
ment, ^.n  act  of  1642  had  charged  the  selectmen  in  all  of 
the  towns  .to  see  that  parents  and  masters  provided  for  Hie 
education  of  their  Children,  to  the  extent  of  teachinfi[_them 
to  read  and  understand  the  principles  of  religion  and  the 
capital  laws  of  the  country,  and  to  engage  in  some  suitable 
employment^ In  1645  it  had  been  ordered  that  all  youth 
in  the  colony  from  ten  to  sixteen  years  of  age  should  receive 
military  training,  including  instruction  "in  ye  exercise  of 
arines,  as  small  guns,  halfe  pikes,  bowes  &  arrowes,  &c." 

The  lawipJLlMl  is  significant  in  that  it  required  all  of 
the  larger  towns  to  act  after  a  pattern  already  set  by  the 
voluntary  action  of  the  more  enterprising  communities.  It 
may,  perhaps,  be  added  to  this,  that  it  is  significant  as  pro- 
ceeding from  the  civil  authority.  I  do  not  know  of  any 
earlier  act  establishing  a  school  system  in  any  country  of 

j'printcd  in   Bo  ROE  Aim's  Rise  of  modern  democracy,   from  which  (p.  71)  the 
^ibove  quotation  is  made. 

i  Ttsmrds  nf  the  governor  and  company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New 
England,  II.,  "p.  203. 


66  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

modern   Christendom,  which  was  so  distinctly  civil  in  its 
character. 

Care  must  be  taken,  however,  not  to  claim  t^  mu^u  iuj 
such  an  apparently  new  departure  as  this.  It  is  glory  enough 
for  any  historic  act,  if  it  turn  the  current  of  human  affairs 
to  any  appreciable  degree  in  a  direction  along  which  noble 
achievements  shall  be  wrought  out  by  later  generations. 
The  Massachusetts  law  went  only  a  little  further  than  the 
exhortations  and  charges  sometimes  addressed  by  princes  in 
Catholic  lands  and  times  to  the  higher  clergy  and  monastic 
orders  of  their  realms.  Charles  the  Great  is  a  conspicuous 
example  of  a  Catholic  king  who  participated  directly  in 
matters  of  education.  In  more  ways  than  one  the  traditions 
of  the  Roman  Empire  were  resumed  under  his  rule.  Educa- 
tion had  been  recognized  under  the  Roman  Empire  as  a  civil 
function.  In  some  sense  the  gradual  assumption  of  educa- 
tional control  by  the  civil  power  since  the  Reformation  is 
the  resumption  of  a  civil  function  which  had  been  in  abey- 
ance through  the  intervening  centuries,  save  in  occasional 
and  scattered  instances.  It  was,  undoubtedly,  both  more 
and  less  than  this. 

*  When  th^lassachusetts  act  was  passed,  important  begin- 
nings in  thra  resumption  of  civil  control  had  been  made  in 
other  lands,  both  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic.  In  some  of  the 
German  states  the  sovereign  power  had  already  set  up 
systems  of  schools.1  But  we  can  hardly  say  that,  previous 
to  the  eighteenth  century,  any  German  prince  had  issued 
decrees  relating  to  education  in  his  civil,  as  distinct  from 
his  'ecclesiastical,  capacity. 

Great  efforts  had  been  put  forth  to  provide  education  for 
the  people  of  Ho]lan.d,  and  for  that  age  the  endeavor 
had  met  with  considerable  success.  Bat  the  system  was 
still  primarily  ecclesiastical  in  character.  The  Synod  of 
Port,  in  1618,  had  laid  great  emphasis  upon  school  instruc- 
tion ;  but  what  that  synod  had  in  view  was  mainly  instruc- 
tion in  the  catechism,  as  carried  on  in  parochial  school* 
1  Cf,  RT"  inters  2  and  3. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  67 

\ 

Such  references  as  we  find  to  educational  activity  on  the 
part  of  the  state  are  exceedingly  vague. 

The  educational  history  of  _Sco_tlandJs  peculiarly  rich  in 
examples  of  the  interaction  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
authorities,  and  one  finds  great  difficulty  in  the  search  for  a 
leading  clue  through  the  mass  of  royal  decrees,  acts  of 
parliament  and  of  general  assembly,  and  records  of  munici- 
pal proceedings  with  which  it  has  to  do.  Even  before  the 
Eeformation,  this  interaction  had  begun.  After  the  Refor- 
mation the  reorganized  national  church  repeatedly  urged 
the  civil  authorities  to  lend  their  aid  in  the  effort  to  edu- 
cate the  people.  The  First  Book  of  Discipline,  prepared  . 
under  the  immediate  influence  of  Knox  and  others  of  the  ' 
early  reformers,  presented  a  comprehensive  scheme  for  a 
system  of  public  schools,  elementary,  secondary,  and  higher, 
and  called  on  the  state  for  authority  to  put  the  plan  into 
effect.  In  1616  the  Privy  Council  passed  a  decree  imposing 
on  each  parish  the  obligation  to  support  a  school.  This  . 
decree  was  ratified  by  an  act  of  the  Scotch  parliament  in  \ 
1633.  These  proceedings,  taken  upon  the  urgent  call  of  the 
national  church,  seem  to  have  treated  the  school  primarily 
as  a  dependency  of  the  church.  Still  more  Ative  efforts, 
put  forth  by^ttoiastical  assemblies,  were  followed  in  1646 
by  a  mojjy  3$inite  parliamentary  enactment.  The  most 
important, .pSJvisions  of  this  act  read  as  follows: 

"  The  Estates  of  Parliament  now  conveened,  in  the  fifth  Session 
of  this  first  Triennall  Parliament,  Considering  how  prejudiciall  the 
want  of  Schools  in  many  congregations  hath  been,  and  how  bene- 
ficiall  the  founding  thereof  in  every  congregation  will  be  to  this 
Kirk  and  Kingdom ;  Do  therefore  Statute  and  Ordain,  That  there 
be  a  Schoole  founded,  and  a  Schoole  master  appointed  in  every 
Parish  (not  already  provided)  by  advice  of  the  Presbyterie  :  And 
to  this  purpose,  that  the  Heritors  in  every  congregation  meet 
among  themselves,  and  provide  a  commodious  house  for  a  Schoole, 
and  modifie  a  stipend  to  the  Schoole  master,  which  shall  not  be 
under  Ane  hundred.  Merks,  nor  above  Tua  hundred  Merks,  to  be 
'•;.'i.i  reerlv  •.•(•  tw;  l'u\-\-.  /  :  thia  effect  t'./a*  /.h* .  v  ..••,'  down 


68  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

a  stent  upon  every  ones  Rent  of  stock  and  teind  in  the  Parish, 
proportionally  to  the  worth  thereof,  for  maintenance  of  the  Schoole, 
and  payment  of  the  Schoole  masters  stipend  ;  Which  stipend  is 
declared  to  be  due  to  the  Schoole  masters  by  and  attour  the  casual- 
ities  which  formerly  belonged  to  Readers  and  Clerks  of  Kirk  Ses- 
sions. And  if  the  Heritors  shall  not  conveene,  or  being  conveened 
shall  not  agree  amongst  themselves,  Then,  and  in  that  case  the 
Preshyterie  shall  nominate  twelve  honest  men  within  the  bounds 
of  the  Presbyterie,  who  shall  have  power  to  establish  a  Schoole, 
modifie  a  stipend  for  the  Schoole  master,  with  the  latitude  before 
expressed,  and  set  down  a  stent  for  payment  thereof  upon  the 
Heritors,  which  shall  be  as  valide  and  effectuall  as  if  the  same 
had  been  done  by  the  Heritors  themselves." l 

There  is  much  in  the  spirit  and  direction  of  this  educa- 
tional movement  in  Scotland  which  reminds  one  strongly  of 
the  parallel  movement  in  Massachusetts,  though  there  is 
but  little  in  the  wording  of  the  Massachusetts  act  of  1647 
to  recall  the  Scotch  act  of  the  preceding  year.  It  would 
seem  almost  certain  that  the  men  of  Massachusetts  must 
have  acted  with  full  knowledge  of  what  their  fellow  Calvin- 
ists  of  the  north  country  were  doing.  Direct  evidence  of 
such  knowlftlge  may  not  be  found  ;  but  the  close  connec- 
tion of  both  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  and  the  colonists  of 
New  England  with  the  Puritan  revolutionists  of  Old  Eng- 
land, makes  it  altogether  probable  that  each  group  was 
pretty  well  informed  as  to  what  the  others  were  doing. 

The  action  of  the  civil  power  in  Scotland,  in  the  legisla- 
tion recorded  above,  went  further  in  some  respects  than  the 
Massachusetts  enactment  of  1647,  and  nearly  as  far  in 
other  respects ;  but  tbe  antecedents  and  the  specific  provis- 
ions of  the  Scotch  law  show  more  of  ecclesiastical  connection 
than  does  the  Massachusetts  statute.  It  was  not  until  the 
.passage  of  the  acts  o£  16$3  and  1696  that  a  national  system 
of  education  was  really  established  in  Scotland,  and  even 
those  acts  continued  much  of  the  earlier  ecclesiastical  par- 

i  A&  of  the  Parliaments  of  Scotland,  tl  ^i       "  ''  "*      B        ',  of  R 

Commission,  \'  i 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  69 

ticipation  in  the  management  of  the  schools.     The  Massa- 
'aw,  on  the  other  hand,  while   pushing  r  ligious 
considerations  to  the  front,  addressed   itself   to   the   civil 
authorities,  and  made  no  reference  to  the  churches  nor  t<r^ 
the  clergy  in  connection  with  the  school  administration.1 
But  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  Massachusetts,  in  the 

seventeenth  Century,  wnnULhring  into  haing  a  pnhlir. 

ense  of  the  term.     Its  education 


was  the  act  of  a  legislature  elected  by  members  of  churches 
of  a  recognized  faith  and  order  ;  a  legislature  which  looked 
upon  the  furtherance  of  true  religion  as  its  highest  end  and 
aim.     The  religious,  pur  pose  was  its  chief  concern  inJJie  pro-  j 
vision  for  schools,  and  the  obligation  to  establish  schools-  and  ,' 
maintain  them  was  laid  upon  towns  which  were  at  the  same, 
time  congregations.     The  public  school  systems  of  the  nine?-*—  -" 
teenth   and   twentieth~»centuries   are  systems   suited   to  a' 
people  of  diverse  rttlgions,  and  they  have  grown  up  with 
the   growth    of  religious    difference.     The    Puritan    fathers 
would  have  been  horrified  at  the  thought  that  their  legisla- 
tion was  preparing  th^  "r'"r  f^~  any  such  thing. 

rYet  it  (;  it  the  germ  of  much  of  our 

r  school  legislat;  •omul  in  the  Massachusetts 

law  of  1647.     It  was  not  a  royal"  decree,  but4&  act-of  -  the 

ule  of  die  colony,  who  took  upon  themselves  the  burden 

:  vely  expensive  system  of  liberal  educa- 

ny  ecclesiastical    implications  and  con- 

i.  actions  it  may  have  had,  it  was  axivil  act,  such  as  might 

serve  as  a  precedent  in  states—  differently  constituted,  and 

-vhere  the  conditions  of  admission  to  theeleetoral  body  were 
not  pitched  so  high. 

There  is  abundant   evidence  that   it  did  serve   as   such 

precedent.     In  official  documents  and  in  private  publications 

relating  to  education,  east  and  west,  north  and  south,  all 

1  A  comparative  examination  of  the  several  education  acts  of  %the  seven- 
ceenth  century  would  throw  much  light  on  the  subject  under  consideration. 
IT.  i;,  ,.  _  be  mad  ~iy  view  of  the  part  played  by  Maasachu- 

in  the  general  movement  must  be  in  a  measure  tentai 


70  THE  MAKING   OF  (      R  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

through  the  formative  perk        f  our  public  education,  tlie 

example  of  Massachusetts  has  been  held  up  for  emulation. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  any  large   section  in  the 

whole  land  where  its   influence  has   not  been  felt.     Such 

s;  being  the  case,  it  will  be  well  to  trace  somewhat  in  detail 

ithe  later  colonial  history  of  the  Massachusetts  system. 

Subsequent  education  acts  in  the  colony  and  province 
followed  the  general  lines  laid  down  in  the  law  of  1647. 
In  1654,  the  general  court  of  the  colony  made  it  the 
special  care  of  the  overseers  of  the  college  and  the  select- 
men of  the  several  towns  to  prevent  the  appointment  or  the 
continuance  in  office  of  teachers  who  "  have  mannifested 
themselves  vnsound  in  the  faith  or  scandalous  in  theire 
liues,  and  not  giving  due  sattis faction  according  to  th  rules 
of  Christ."1 

The    meeting    of    the   general    court    on   the   1!  ;  h   of 
November,  1659,  marks  another  epoch  in  our  early 
tional  history.     Individual  grants  of  land,  of  two  hi 
acres  each,  were  made  for  the  relief  of  two  schoolm 
Daniel  Weld  and  Elijah  Corlett,  out  of  considerati  n  for 
"  the  vsefullnes  of  the  pe^coiiers  in  an  imployment  of  so 
comon  concernment  for  the  good  of  the  whole  com 
the  little   incouragement  that  they  have  had  from  theire 
respective  tonnes  for  theire  service  and  vnweuried 
in  that  imployment."     And  grants  of  one  thousand 
each  were  made  to  the  towns  of  Charlestown,  Garni 
and  Dorchester  for  the  support  of  grammar  schools.2 

In  1671  the  fine  of  five  pounds  imposed  on  towns  « 
hundred  families  for  neglect  to  provide  a  grammar 
was  increased  to  ten  pounds.3  This  penalty  was  aga 
creased,  in  1683,  to  twenty  pounds  in  the  case  of  to\ 
two  hundred  families,  and  it  was  further  provided  i 
same  time  that  every  town  of  more  than  five  hu 

1  Eecfrdsfffke  governor  and  company,  etc.,  IV.,  pt.  1,  pp.  182-1 
«  IS.,  IV.;  pt.  1,  pp.  397-398,  400. 
*  Id.,  IV.,  pt.  2,  p.  48 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  71 

families  should  "  set  vp  &  mainteyne  two  gramar  schooles 
and  two  wrighting  schooles." ] 

After  the  colony  had  become  a  royal  province,  the  colonial; 
school  law  was  re-enacted,  in  substance,  though  somewhat  » 
modernized  in  wording.     A^rammar  school  was  to  be  mainJU--" 
tained  in  every  town  of  orie  hundred  families,  under  penalty  I  \ 
of  ten  pounds  for  each  conviction.2   ,0ne  half  of  the  receipts^  * 
from  tines  for  the  selling  of  liquors  withou£  license  and  for 
certain  other  offences,  was  devoted  to  the  support  of  grammar     ~* 
or  writing  schools.3  »  The  provision^relating  to  the  mainte- 
nance of   grammar  schools  having  been  "  shamefully  Tieg- 
lected  by  divers  towns,"  the  penalty  for  non-observance  was 
increased  in  1701  to  twenty  pounds  per  annurn^     It  was  fur- 
ther provided  that  every  grammar  master  must  be  approved 
by  the  minister  of  the  town  or  the  ministers  of  £wo  adjacent 
towns,  and  hold  a  certificate  to  that  effect;  and  that  the 
minister  of  a  town  should  not_serve  as  schoolmaster.4     In 
1718,  "by  sad  experience  it  is  found  that  many  towns  that 
not  only  are  obligecPby  law,  but  are  very  able  to  support  a 
grammer  school",  yetjchoose  rather  to  incurr  and  pay  the  fine 
or  penalty  than  maintain  a  grammer  school."    A  law  of  that 
date  accordingly  increases  the  tine  to  thirty  pounds  for  every 
town  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  forty  pounds  for  such 
as  have  two  hundred  families,  and  so  "pro  rato  "  (sic)  for  a 
town  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred  families.5 

A  new  Massachusetts  was  by  this  time  growing  up,  as  the 
frontier  settlements  were  pushed  farther  and  farther  into 
the  interior.  The  new  towns  did  not  all  take  kindly  to  the 
compulsory  maintenance  of  schools,  and  the  older  towns  were 
not  unanimous  in  their  adherence  to  it.  The  legislature  and 
the  courts  of  the  province  had  much  to  do,  as  the  records 

1  Records  of  the  governor  and  company,  etc.,  V.,  pp.  414-415. 

*  Province  laws,  1692-93,  ch.  26,  sect.  5,  passed  November  4,  1692. 

*  Id.,  1700-01,  ch.  8,  sect.  6,  passed  June  29,  1700.     Id.,  1701-02,  ch.  15, 
se*-t.  6,  passed  June  18,  1701.    Id.,  1702-03,  ch.  4,  sect.  5,  passed  March  27, 
1703.     Id.,  1703-34,  ch.  5,  sect.  5,  passed  July  31,  1703. 

*  Td.,  17A1     A<      "V     1A     — -1    Tn««  08     1701 

*  Id.t  1718-19  ch.  2,  passed  June  17,  1718. 


72  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

show,  in  the  effort  to  make  these  independent-spirited 
Massachusetts  communities  live  up  to  a  law  which  was 
me  of  the  chief  glories  of  the  commonwealth. 

The  Massachusetts  act  of  1647  was  copied  almost  verba- 
tim in  the  Connecticut  code  of  1650.  After  the  union  of 
the  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  Colonies,  the  county  in- 
stead of  the  town  was  made  the  territorial  unit  in  the 
/maintenance  of  grammar  schools.  In  May,  1672,  the 
/  general  court  granted  each  county  town  six  hundred  acres 
I  of  land  for  the  support  of  such  a  school,  and  later  in  the 
same  year  the  requirement  of  a  grammar  school  in  each 
town  of  one  hundred  families  was  changed  to  one  in  each 
county  town.  From  time  to  time  various  colony  funds  were 
voted  to  the  support  of  these  schools ;  and  a  fine  of  ten 
pounds  was  imposed  on  any  county  town  which  should  fail 
to  comply  with  the  law.  It  was  on  these  lines  that  a 
general  system  of  secondary  schools  was  maintained  in 
Connecticut  throughout  the  remainder  of  the  colonial 
period.1  H0mu*  4vM^<  Vw^itx^  <4  (jduuy  *  t»*V4 

New  Hampshire  was*  a  part  of  Massachusetts  when  the 
law  of  1647  was  adopted,  and  for  many  years  thereafter. 
When  the  separation  took  place,  the  northern  colony  con- 
tinued the  same  educational  policy,  in  the  face  of  all  the 
obstacles  to  be  met  with  on  an  exposed  frontier  in  times, 
fretted  with  wars  against  the  French  and  Indians.  In  1719 
an  act  was  passed  which  was  in  the  main  a  reproduction  of 
the  original  Massachusetts  law,  but  the  penalty  for  failure 
to  maintain  schools-^¥a&-aiicreased  from  five  to  twenty 
pounds.  Two  years  later,  the  selectmen  of  the  towns  were 
made  individually  liable  for  such  failure.  These  laws  were 
still  in  force  at  the  time  of  the  Eevolution.2 

Another  powerful  and  pervasive  spiritual  force  in  the 
colonies,  after  Calvinism,  was  the  doctrine  and  life  of  "  the 
people  called  Quakers."  Of  especial  significance  in  the  his- 
tory of  education  was  their  doctrine  of  the  inner  light,  and 

1  STEINEK,  History  of  education  in  Connecticut,  p  >.  1 7-29. 
*  BUSH,  History  »f  tduaiii<. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  73 

their   insistence  upon  the  separation  of  church  and  state.  - — 
Kevelation,  for  these  people,  was  not  brought  to  an  end  with 
the  completion  of  the  New  Testament^    It  was  continued  in 
the  spiritual  illumination  of  each  individual  Christian.    The 
Scriptures,  then,  though  a  true  revelation  and  of  the  greatest 
value,  were  not  the  only  guide  of  life.     Such  doctrine  would 
lead  some  to  lay  great  emphasis  on  the  higher  learning,  but 
would  lead  all  to  give  to  learning  the  second  place,  while  an 
enlightened  conscience  was  held,  to  be  the  principal  thing.: 
As   early  as  the  seventeenth  century  there  was  a  spirited 
discussion  of  the  question  of  "  an  educated  ministry."     And 
members  of  the  society  of  Friends,  quite  consistently,  took 
the  ground  that  the  education  of  the  minister  was  a  matter 
of  secondary  importance.     It  is  not  surprising  that  some 
members  of  this  society  went  further,  and  developed  a  posi- 
tive opposition  to  education  beyond  the  merest  rudiments  j  /£ 
yet  the  more  intelligent^of  their  number  manifested  from   ^ 
the  beginfiTngli  ttX^eTy"ie^se  of  the  importance  of  schools  of 
every  grade,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 

The  Quakers  made  themselves  felt  at  an  early  day  in  the 
life  of  the  several  colonies.  George  Fox  came  to  America  in 
1671  for  an  extended  preaching  tourl  His  followers  were 
influential  in  the  affairs  of  Maryland.  William  Penn  was 
one  of  the  company  of  Friends  which  for  a  time  exercised 
proprietary  rights  over  West  Jersey  ;  and  finally  Quaker  in-, 
fluence  in  the  colonies  culminated  in  the  magnificent  grant 
which  Penn  received,  in  1681,  from  Charles  the  Second. 

There  is  much  that  has  a  very  modern  sound  in  the  Frame 
of  Government  which  Penn  drew  up  for  his  colony:  Free-1^ 
dom  of  religion  (except  for  "  Papists  ")  ;  large  powers  granted 
to  an  elective  legislature;  and  intimately  connected  with 
these,  a  system  of  education  under  civil  control.  "The 
Governor  and  Provincial  Council  shall  erect  and  order  all 
public  schools,  and  encourage  and  reward  the  authors  of 
useful  sciences  and  laudable  inventions  in  the  said  prov- 
ince." And  one  of  the  committees  into  which  the  Provincial 
Council  was  divided  for  ptfrpr-~~~  ~*  ^™iniQt-ration  was  "a 


76  THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MI  ^ 

tional  movement  in  Pennsylvania  must  have  i>eeu  felt  there. 
In  a  new  country,  among  a  people  much  divi<  ...ni  in  their 
religious  affiliations,  where  there  was  but  little  uulated 
wealth,  high  educational  aspirations  could  be  realized  only 
through  the  co-operation  of  many  forces.  Governor  Nichol- 
son's personal  influence  was  powerful,  and  he  seems  to  have 
been  sufficiently  desirous  of  seeing  schools  established  to  be 
willing  to  employ  any  fair  means  which  might  be  available 
for  the  attainment  of  that  end.  It  seems  likely  that  this 
was  the  determining  factor  in  the  case. 

The  matter  was  the^ccasion  of  much  wrangling  both 
beiore  and  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1696.  The  grow- 

!ng  demand  for  opportunities  of^adyjjicemp.nt  for  Amftrir.nn- 
jorn  youth  in  the  public  service,  was  emphasized  in  this 
discussion.  The  bill  was  in  all  likelihood  a  compromise. 
It  is  clear  that  especial  pains  were  taken  to  keep  the  new 
system  in  close  relations  with  the  English  Church.  Even 
so  the  act  seems  to  mark  another  of  the  early  stages  in  the 
development  of  that  participation  of  the  civil  power  in 
affairs  of  public  education  which  eventuated  in  the  school 
systems  of  the  past  fifty  years. 

The  act  of  1696,  as  previously  stated,  failed  to_secure  the 
establishment  of  any  but  th&King  William  school.  But  it 
led  to  later  legislation  which  was  more  effective.  Various 
duties  were  imposed  from  time  to  time  for  the  benefit  of 
free  schools  —  on  imported  negroes  and  on  exports  of  tobacco, 
pork,  tar,  etc.  Then,  in  1723,  a  new  act  was  passed,  provid- 
ing again  ffvr_njip  frpp.  ftcJinnMn  TP.anb  of  the  twelve  COUBties 

qf^  the  Colony.  A  separate  board  of  seven  visitors  was 
erected  for  each  of  these  schools?  Each  board  was  required 
to  purchase  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  to  be  turned  over  to 
the  use  of  the  schoolmaster,  together  with  a  house  for  his 
residence  and  for  the  school;  and  to  pay  the  master  in 
addition  a  salary  of  twenty  pounds  a  year.  The  master 
must  be  an  adherent  of  the  Church  of  England.1  The 

1  The  text  of  this  law,  as  well  as  of  th*  anf  «f  i«o«    v.  *—  ^  & 

CLEWS,  Educational  legislation  and  a 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  77 

colony  was  evidently  in  earnest  in  this  matter,  and  the 
schools  contemplated  in  the  law  were  generally  established  ; 
but  there  are  indications  in  the  course  of  subsequent  legisla- 
tion that  great  difficulty  was  met  with  in  the  attempt  to 
hold  them  up  to  even  a  moderate  standard  of  efficiency. 

The  four  colonies,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New^ 
Hampshire,  and  Maryland,  bravely  kept  up  some  sort  of 
colonial  system  of  education  down  to  the  time  of  separation 
from  the  mother  country.  The  schools  were  "free  schools'.' 
in  intention.  In  theory,  if  not  always  in  practice,  they 
offered  instruction  in  Latin*  and  pointed  forward  to  the 
higher  education.  For  the  last  fifty  years  of  the  period,  for 
reasons  which  will  be  considered  further  on,  the  Chariot 
/dwe^ heavily.  It  was  not  simply  that  the  colonies  were* 
Regenerating  intellectually.  New  times  had  come,  and  with 
them  the  need  of  a  ney  education  and  new__  educational 
institutions. 


There  is  need  of  compact  histories,  in  English,  of  the  chief  educational 
systems  of  continental  Europe,  and  of  Scotland  and  England.     One  finds, 
moreover,  a  great  dearth  of  source-books,  such  as  would  make  possible  a  ^ 
full  and  reliable  comparison  of  the  development  of  those  systems  with  that 
of  our  own. 

Eor  Holland  we  have  the  scattered  items  of  information  in  the  writings 
of  MOTLEY  and  of  MATTHEW  ARNOLD,  in  COUSIN'S  famous  report,  in 
DE  WITT'S  Introduction  to  DUNSHEE,  School  of  the  Reformed  Protestant 
Dutch  Churchy  in  PLUGGE,  Education  in  the  Netherlands  (Circ.  Inf., 
no.  2,  1877),  and  in  NUSSBAUM,  Education  in  the  Netherlands  (Kept. 
Comr.  Ed.,  1894-95,  p.  475  ff.).  The  articles  on  education  adopted 
by  the  Synod  of  Dort  are  given  in  English  translation  in  DE  WITT'S 
Introduction. 

For  Scotland  we  have  two  important  works  : 

EDGAR,  JOHN.    History  of  early  Scottish  education.     Edinburgh,  1893. 
Pp.  12  +  333 ;  and 

GRANT,  JAMES.     History  of  the  burgh  and  parish  schools  of  Scotland 
London,  1876.     I.,  pp.  16  +  571. 


76  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MI         K    S^ 

tional  movement  in  Pennsylvania  must  have  been  felt  there. 
In  a  new  country,  among  a  people  much  diviusd  in  their 
religious  affiliations,  where  there  was  but  little  act',  nulated 
wealth,  high  educational  aspirations  could  be  realized  only 
through  the  co-operation  of  many  forces.  Governor  Nichol- 
son's personal  influence  was  powerful,  and  he  seems  to  have 
been  sufficiently  desirous  of  seeing  schools  established  to  be 
willing  to  employ  any  fair  means  which  might  be  available 
for  the  attainment  of  that  end.  It  seems  likely  that  this 
was  the  determining  factor  in  the  case. 

The  matter  was  the^sccasion  of  much  wrangling  both 
i  before  and  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1696.  The  grow- 
ng  demand  for  opportunities  of^advgjicBmpnt,  for  Amftrip.an- 
born  youth  in  the  public  service,  was  emphasized  in  this 
discussion.  The  bill  was  in  all  likelihood  a  compromise. 
It  is  clear  that  especial  pains  were  taken  to  keep  the  new 
system  in  close  relations  with  the  English  Church.  Even 
so  the  act  seems  to  mark  another  of  the  early  stages  in  the 
development  of  that  participation  of  the  civil  power  in 
affairs  of  public  education  which  eventuated  in  the  school 
systems  of  the  past  fifty  years. 

The  act  of  1696,  as  previously  stated,  failed  to_secure  the 
establishment  of  any  but  the^  King  William  school.  But  it 
led  to  later  legislation'  which  was  more  effective.  Various 
duties  were  imposed  from  time  to  time  for  the  benefit  of 
free  schools  —  on  imported  negroes  and  on  exports  of  tobacco, 
pork,  tar,  etc.  Then,  in  1723,  a  new  act  was  passed,  provid- 
ing- a^ain^for_oiie_-frea_&clipoLin_ each  of  the  twelve  counties 
qf_  the  colony.  A  separate  board  of  seven  visitors  was 
erected  for  each  of  these  schools?  Each  board  was  required 
to  purchase  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  to  be  turned  over  to 
the  use  of  the  schoolmaster,  together  with  a  house  for  his 
residence  and  for  the  school;  and  to  pay  the  master  in 
addition  a  salary  of  twenty  pounds  a  year.  The  master 
must  be  an  adherent  of  the  Church  of  England.1  The 

1  The  text  of  this  law,  as  well  as  of  th*  art  nf  i«o«    ^  «•—  -j<j  i^ 

CLEWS,  Educational  legislation  and  a 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS  77 

colony  was  evidently  in  earnest  in  this  matter,  and  the 
schools  contemplated  in  the  law  were  generally  established  ; 
but  there  are  indications  in  the  course  of  subsequent  legisla- 
tion that  great  difficulty  was  met  with  in  the  attempt  to 
hold  them  up  to  even  a  moderate  standard  of  efficiency. 

The  four  colonies,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Maryland,  bravely  kept  up  some  sort  of 
colonial  system  of  education  down  to  the  time  of  separation 
from  the  mother  country.  The  schools  were  "  free  schools  " 
in  intention.  In  theory,  if  not  always  in  practice,  they 
offered  instruction  in  Latin,  and  pointed  forward  to  the 
higher  education.  For  the  last  fifty  years  of  the  period,  for 
reasons  which  will  be  considered  further  on,  the  chariot 
heavily.  It  was  not  simply  that  the  colonies  were* 

generating  intellectually.  New  times  had  come,  and  with 
them  the  need  of  a  new  education  and  naw__  educational 
institutions. 


There  is  need  of  compact  histories,  in  English,  of  the  chief  educational  i^ 
systems  of  continental  Europe,  and  of  Scotland  and  England.     One  finds, 
moreover,  a  great  dearth  of  source-books,  such  as  would  make  possible  a^ 
full  and  reliable  comparison  of  the  development  of  those  systems  with  that" 
of  our  own. 

For  Holland  we  have  the  scattered  items  of  information  in  the  writings 
of  MOTLEY  and  of  MATTHEW  ARNOLD,  in  COUSIN'S  famous  report,  in 
DE  WITT'S  Introduction  to  DUNSHEE,  School  of  the  Reformed  Protestant 
Dutch  Church,  in  PLUGGE,  Education  in  the  Netherlands  (Circ.  Inf., 
no.  2,  1877),  and  in  NUSSBAUM,  Education  in  the  Netherlands  fRept. 
Comr.  Ed.,  1894-95,  p.  475  ff.).  The  articles  on  education  adopted 
by  the  Synod  of  Dort  are  given  in  English  translation  in  DE  WITT'S 
Introduction. 

For  Scotland  we  have  two  important  works  : 

EDGAR,  JOHN.    History  of  early  Scottish  education.     Edinburgh,  1893. 
Pp.  12  +  333  ;  and 

GRANT,  JAMES.     History  of  the  burgh  and  parish  schools  of  Scotland 
London,  1876.     L,  pp.  16  +  571. 


78  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

There  is  much  information  packed  in  this  little  pamphlet : 

GORDON,  THE  REV.  A.  L.  The  system  of  national  education  in  Scotland ; 
its  origin,  its  nature,  and  results.  Being  the  substance  of  a  report  of 
a  committee  of  the  Synod  of  Aberdeen,  ordered  by  the  Synod  to  be  pub- 
lished. With  notes  and  illustrations.  Aberdeen,  1839.  Pp.  59. 

For  colonial  systems,  the  works  consulted  have  already  been  referred  to 
under  Chapter  III. 


CHAPTER  V 
LATER  COLONIAL  SCHOOLS 

THE  seventeenth  century  was  marked  by  several  stages  of 
colonial  development,  corresponding  to  rather  sharply  defined 
epochs  in  the  history  of  the  mother  country.  The  violent 
changes  which  characterized  that  age  left  their  impress  on 
colonial  society,  and  affected  the  course  of  colonial  education. 
These  successive  stages  cannot,  however,  be  considered  in 
detail  in  such  a  work  as  this.  But  the  contrast  between  the 
earlier  and  the  later  colonial  times  is  too  great  to  be  over- 
looked, since  it  brings  to  view  some  of  the  strongest  under- 
currents in  our  educational  history.  The  second  great 
division  of  our  colonial  period  will  accordingly  receive 
separate  consideration  in  this  chapter. 

As  a  matter  of  convenience,  we  may  regard  this  second 
division  as  covering  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
down  to  the  Revolution.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
the  new  century  did  not  at  once  set  up  a  new  order  of 
things.  But  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary  settled  many  dis- 
putes that  had  vexed  the  seventeenth  century  :  and  the  reign 
of  Queen  Anne  carries  us  well  over  into  the  age  of  outward 
calm  ;  the  Augustan  age,  with  its  common  sense ;  the  age  of 
Bolingbroke  and  of  Walpole  and  of  all  those  others  who 
like  them  depised  enthusiasm.  Down  under  the  crust  of 
that  age  new  enthusiasms  were  moving  which  the  world 
must  reckon  with  further  on.  The  fire  that  had  gone  out  of 
the  familiar  institutions  was  at  work  elsewhere,  with  no 
diminution  of  creative  energy. 

The  colonies  in  this  time  were  coming  to  be  colonial. 
Their  inhabitants  ceased  to  be  Englishmen  away  from  home, 


80  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

and  became  thoroughly  provincial.  Their  intercourse  with 
the  mother  country  was  very  different  from  that  known  to 
their  grandfathers,  when  the  spirit  of  adventure  or  zeal  for 
religion  brought  men  of  first-rate  character  and  ability  to 
America,  and  Americans  found  places  of  honor  and  respon- 
sibility awaiting  them  when  they  returned  to  England.  The 
lament  was  often  heard  in  the  eighteenth  century  that  the 
high  character  of  the  early  colonists  had  not  been  main- 
tained by  their  descendants.  Such  croaking,  to  be  sure,  is 
one  of  the  luxuries  of  the  lookers-backward  in  every  age. 
But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  this  instance  it  was  justi- 
fied. Learning,  along  with  much  else  that  was  good,  had,  in 
spite  of  all  pains,  been  buried  in  the  graves  of  the  fore- 
fathers. 

We  can  see  now  that  in  becoming  provincial  the  colonists 
were  simply  getting  ready  to  become  American.  For  the 
student  of  history,  this  period  is  full  of  interest,  for  the 
reason  that  in  its  provincialism  he  can  trace  some  of 
the  beginnings  of  the  American  character. 

Men  filled  with  the  love  of  adventure  were  slowly  push- 
ing the  frontier  back  from  the  coast.  There  were  already 
considerable  stretches  of  country  given  over  to  peaceful 
industry  and  safe  from  invasion  by  the  Indians.  In  spite 
of  trade  restrictions,  the  colonists  were  finding  out  for  them- 
selves various  lines  of  profitable  employment.  Moderate 
fortunes  were  made  ;  and  in  the  cities  of  the  north  and  on 
the  plantations  of  the  south  a  varied  and  interesting  social 
life  was  developing.  Printing  presses  were  at  work,  news- 
papers came  to  be  widely  read,  and  affairs  of  public  interest 
brought  out  a  spirited  pamphlet  literature  in  America  as  in 
England. 

Of  the  greatest  significance  in  its  bearing  upon  education 
was  the  ecclesiastical  character  of  .the  several  colonies.  At 
the  accession  of  William  and  Mary,  we  find  some  sort  of 
experiment  in  religious  freedom  going  on  in  Maryland,  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  notably  in  Khode  Island ;  Congregational- 
ism of  different  types  is  established  in  Massachusetts  and 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  81 

Connecticut;  while  the  Church  of  England  is  officially 
recognized  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  In  the  other  col- 
onies, and  to  a  less  degree  in  some  of  those  just  enumerated, 
affairs  ecclesiastical  appear  in  a  mixed  and  uncertain  state, 
confusing  enough  to  the  student  of  our  early  history. 

Such  were  the  conditions  that  obtained  at  the  opening  of 
the  English  era  of  toleration.  From  that  time  on  we  may 
observe  the  working  of  two  divergent  tendencies.  The 
Church  of  England  was  roused  to  greater  interest  in  the 
American  colonies,  and  entered  upon  extensive  missionary 
operations  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Anglican  influence 
in  the  colonies  was  increased.  Some  sort  of  establishment, 
after  the  English  pattern,  was  set  up,  under  the  patronage 
of  royal  governors,  in  New  York  and  Maryland.  And 
notable  Episcopalian  gains  were  made  in  the  very  centers 
of  New  England  Congregationalism.  At  first  glance  it  would 
seem  that  the  dominant  tendency  of  the  time  ran  toward 
established  Episcopalianism. 

But  many  influences  were  making  toward  religious  diver- 
sity and  its  natural  accompaniment,  religious  equality. 
Such  colonial  establishments  as  there  were  can  hardly  be 
compared  to  the  union  of  church  and  state  then  existing  in 
the  mother  country.  Even  in  the  Puritan  colonies,  at  an 
early  day,  the  hard  and  fast  connection  of  the  civil  with  the 
ecclesiastical  power  had  begun  to  loosen.  This  movement 
toward  separation  went  on  slowly  during  the  eighteenth 
century.  Along  with  it  may  be  traced  the  growth  of  that 
positive  civic  and  secular  spirit  which  was  so  strongly  marked 
during  the  Revolutionary  period. 

There  were  certain  definite  manifestations  of  these  two 
tendencies  —  toward  established  Episcopalianism  on  the  one 
hand  and  toward  religious  diversity  and  religious  equality 
on  the  other  —  which  must  be  briefly  considered  because  of 
their  bearing  upon  educational  movements.  And  first  of 
these,  the  activities  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts. 

The  founding  of  William  and  Mary  College,  in  1693,  was 

6 


82  THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

one  of  the  earliest  indications  of  the  new  interest  which  the 
leaders  of  the  English  Church  were  taking  in  the  colonies. 
Closely  connected  with  this  was  the  appointment  of  the  two 
famous  Commissaries  of  the  Bishop  of  London  in  this 
country,  the  Rev.  James  Blair  in  Virginia  and  the  Eev. 
Thomas  Bray  in  Maryland.  Dr.  Blair  is  a  most  militant 
and  interesting  figure  in  the  history  of  the  colonial  church. 
No  man  did  more  than  he  to  secure  the  establishment  of  the 
college  in  Virginia ;  and  he  was  at  the  head  of  that  institu- 
tion down  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1743. 

Thomas  Bray,  if  less  picturesque,  was  no  less  worthy.  We 
find  him,  before  quitting  England,  using  his  utmost  endeavors 
to  secure  libraries  for  the  use  of  the  clergy  in  the  several 
parishes  of  Maryland.  "  It  is  Ignorance,"  he  said  in  a 
sermon  on  colonial  missions,  "  which  is  the  Natural  Parent 
of  that  Atheism  and  Infidelity  so  rife  amongst  Men ;  and 
indeed,  not  only  of  that,  but  of  all  other  Vices  and  Wicked- 
nesses whatsoever."  He  reminded  his  hearers  "  that  we  can- 
not now  work  Miracles,  and  that  Inspiration  is  no  part  of 
our  Talent;  but  that  we  are  left  to  the  Ordinary  means 
of  Converting  the  World ;  namely,  the  Common  Measures 
of  God's  Holy  Spirit  accompanying  our  hard  Study." 

It  was  chiefly  due  to  the  devotion  and  persistence  of  Dr. 
Bray  that  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  was 
organized,  by  English  churchmen,  in  1701.  This  Society 
immediately  undertook  a  vigorous  campaign  for  the  exten- 
sion of  Anglican  Christianity  in  the  several  American  colo- 
nies. George  Keith,  the  first  master  of  the  Friends'  Public 
School  in  Philadelphia,  who  had  now  conformed  to  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  was  the  first  of  its  missionaries.  He  travelled 
all  over  the  colonies  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  started 
a  considerable  movement  toward  Episcopalianism. 

The  chief  concern  of  the  Society  was  the  maintenance 
of  ministers  in  colonial  parishes.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolutionary  war  it  was  helping  to  support  seventy-seven 
missionaries  in  the  region  then  in  revolt.  But  next  after 
churches,  the  Society  was  concerned  in  the  establishment  of 


LATER  COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  8$ 

schools.  These  were  mostly  of  elementary  grade.  But  when 
our  second  Episcopalian  college l  was  projected  the  Society: 
furthered  the  movement,  and  gave  it  substantial  support. 
The  authorities  of  the  English  Church  required  of  candidates 
for  holy  orders  that  they  should  have  had  the  training  of  a 
college  course.  In  this  there  was  full  agreement  between 
them  and  the  Congregationalists  of  New  England.  It  was. 
an  attitude  which  gave  countenance  arid  encouragement  to 
the  higher  education,  for  which  the  Latin  grammar  school 
furnished  the  indispensable  preparation.  The  operations  of 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  accordingly^ 
furthered  indirectly  the  grammar  school  movement ;  and  in 
some  instances  grammar  schools  would  seem  to  have  received; 
aid  from  the  treasury  of  the  Society.2 

It  was  the  great  hope  and  aim  of  this  Society  to  secure 
the  establishment  of  an  American  episcopate.  Such  a  con- 
summation had  long  been  desired  and  sought  by  the  digni-, 
taries  of  the  English  Church.  As  far  back  as  1638, 
Archbishop  Laud  had  exerted  himself  to  have  a  bishop 
sent  to  New  England.  But  this  project  met  with  deter- 
mined opposition  on  both  sides  of  the  water,  not  only  in  the 
time  of  Laud,  but  whenever  it  was  broached  in  later  days., 
It  is  difficult  for  us  to  understand  the  intensity  of  the  feeling 
which  this  proposal  aroused.  It  was  not  that  men  objected, 
to  an  episcopal  form  of  church  government,  though  many 
were  opposed  on  principle  to  such  a  system.  It  was  much 
more  that  men  dreaded  the  power  residing  in  an  English 
bishop  to  enforce  conformity;  and  could  not  forget  how 
oppressively  that  power  had  been  exercised.  One  had  only 
to  mention  the  name  of  Laud  to  arouse  hostility  and  dread.3 

1  King's  College,  now  Columbia  University,  established  in  1754. 

2  The  elementary  scbool  of  Trinity  Church,  in  New  York,  which  received 
aid  from  the  Society,  still  lives,  and  has  become  a  flourishing  secondary  school. 

Anglican  influence  at  its  finest  and  best  appeared  with  the  coming  of  George 
Berkeley  to  the  colonies.  The  good  bishop's  visit  must  always  be  counted , 
among  the  happiest  occurrences  in  the  history  of  our  colonial  education. 

8  "  It  was  difficult  for  these  [New  England  Puritans  and  North-of- Ireland 
Presbyterians],  and  it  would  have  been  even  more  difficult  for  the  new  digni- 


84  THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

So  it  came  about  that  the  growing  success  of  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  aroused  grave  apprehension  in 
many  minds.  And  in  the  fifties  and  sixties  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  this  found  expression  in  a  heated  controversy.  In- 
dependence came  before  a  trans-Atlantic  episcopate  could  be 
secured ;  and  the  discussion  which  the  movement  stirred  up 
was,  as  Moses  Coit  Tyler  has  remarked,  "  one  of  the  chief 
secondary  causes  of  the  American  Eevolution." 

The  "  Venerable  Society,"  then,  while  working  for  unity 
in  established  Episcopalianism,  unintentionally  sharpened 
existing  differences  and  strengthened  the  demand  for  re- 
ligious freedom.  But  other  forces  were  working  more  power- 
fully in  the  same  direction.  There  had  been  abundant 
variety  in  the  religious  character  of  the  earlier  settlements. 
But  variation  went  much  further  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
At  the  first,  America  had  been  a  land  of  promise  for  the 
oppressed,  because  of  the  opportunity  it  offered  of  founding 
new  commonwealths  for  people  of  this  or  that  religion. 
Now  the  idea  of  religious  equality  was  getting  abroad,  and 
America  was  looked  upon  as  a  land  in  which  the  oppressed 
might  find  shelter  under  governments,  already  established, 
which  welcomed  all  comers. 

Various  sects,  mostly  German,  emigrated  in  great  numbers 
to  Pennsylvania.  European  Baptists  settled  in  the  Caro- 
linas,  making  a  beginning  of  that  Baptist  influence  which 
has  been  so  powerful  in  the  south  to  this  day.  Huguenots 
poured  into  that  southern  country  after  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  their  descendants  have  held  a  high 
r  place  in  our  history. 

Most  significant  of  all  from  the  point  of  view  of  education 

taries,  in  colonial  days,  to  understand  how  bishops  could  be  anything  but  lord 
bishops."  BACON,  History  of  American  Christianity,  pp.  206-207.  Cf.  the 
passage  of  similar  import  in  TIFFANY,  History  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States,  p.  277.  John  Adams  said  that,  "the  objection 
was  not  only  to  the  office  of  a  bishop,  though  that  was  dreaded,  but  to  the 
authority  of  Parliament  on  which  it  must  be  founded."  Id.,  p.  275.  It  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  an  American  episcopate  would  have  given  a  different 
direction,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  American  education. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  85 


was  the  influx  of  Presbyterians  from  the  north  of  Ireland. 
This  immigration  began  about  the  year  1718  and  continued 
for  many  years  thereafter,  being  reinforced  later  by  a  sim- 
ilar movement  from  Scotland.  Popular  education  was  as  an 
article  of  the  faith  with  these  people,  and  their  reverence  for 
an  educated  ministry  made  them  lay  the  strongest  emphasis 
upon  the  traditional  college  training.  Their  experience  with 
the  established  Protestantism  of  Ireland  had  formed  in  them 
a  fixed  attitude  of  opposition  toward  the  Anglican  system. 
Many  of  them  disapproved  as  well  of  the  established  Presby- 
terianism  of  Scotland,  and  they  were  ready  material  for  a 
party  of  opposition  to  church  establishments  as  such  in  this 
country.  They  spread  out  over  all  the  colonies,  becoming 
especially  strong  in  the  highlands  of  the  middle  and  southern 
states. 

To  recall  these  familiar  facts  is  to  get  the  merest  hint  of 
that  diversification  of  faiths  and  peoples  which  was  going  on 
in  the  colonies.  The  different  elements  were  becoming  more 
thoroughly  mixed  together  in  the  eighteenth  century  than 
they  had  been  before.  One  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  described  what  he  found 
as  a  "  hotch-potch  of  religions."  The  time  was  favorable  for 
a  great  religious  movement  which  should  sweep  over  this 
motley  company,  firing  the  hearts  of  men  with  a  new  sense 
of  unity,  and  making  new  party  divisions,  marked  with  new 
party-spirit.  Such  a  movement  came  in  that  tremendous 
religious  revival  known  as  the  Great  Awakening.  In  its 
progress  and  in  its  results,  religious,  political,  and  educa- 
tional, this  movement  reminds  one  in  some  measure  of  that 
set  going  by  the  Preaching  Friars,  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

There  was  much  that  led  up  to  the  awakening  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Such  revivals,  on  a  smaller  scale,  had 
not  been  uncommon  in  Puritan  congregations.  The  Quakers 
and  Anabaptists  of  the  seventeenth  century  had,  perhaps, 
prepared  the  way  by  their  teaching  and  preaching.  The 
Pietists  in  Germany  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
under  the  lead  of  Spener  and  Francke,  had  spread  abroad  a 


86  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

view  of  the  religious  life  which  was  favorable  to  such  move- 
ments. Count  Zinzendorf  at  Herrnhut  had  brought  the 
Moravians  into  close  touch  with  this  pietism.  Many  of  Zin- 
zendorf's  people  had  come  to  Pennsylvania,  and  their  Count- 
bishop  came  himself  to  visit  them.  England  felt  the  influ- 
ence of  what  was  going  on  in  Germany,  and  by  the  year 
1740  had  her  own  Methodist  revival  under  way,  led  by 
Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys. 

Just  when  and  how  the  colonial  awakening  began  it 
would  be  hard  to  say.  But  there  was  a  great  religious 
revival  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  under  the  preaching 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  which  was  in  full  progress  in  1734, 
and  rose  to  great  intensity  and  fervor  in  the  following 
year.  Similar  revivals  took  place  in  New  Jersey  and  Penn- 
sylvania, under  the  lead  of  Domine  Frelinghuysen  and 
Jonathan  Dickinson  and  Samuel  Blair,  and  the  Tennents, 
father  and  sons.  This  was  in  the  years  1739-40.  In  1738, 
George  "Whitefield,  one  of  the  greatest  pulpit  orators  in  the 
history  of  the  Christian  church,  came  from  England  and 
began  that  marvellous  series  of  colonial  preaching  tours, 
which  ended  only  with  his  death.  Wherever  he  went  there 
was  excitement,  disturbance,  division —  anything  but  spirit- 
ual stagnation.  And  a  great  number  of  irregular,  itinerant 
preachers  followed  after  him,  who  gathered  their  congrega- 
tions in  the  churches  or  in  the  fields  indifferently,  and  called 
men  everywhere  to  repentance. 

The  most  contradictory  views  of  these  things  were  held 
at  the  time  of  their  occurrence.  Jonathan  Edwards  de- 
clared that  "Multitudes  in  all  parts  have  had  their  con- 
sciences awakened,  and  .  .  .  there  is  a  great  alteration  amongst 
old  and  young  as  to  drinking,  tavern  haunting,  profane  speak- 
ing, and  extravagance  in  apparel.  ...  In  very  many  places  the 
main  of  the  conversation  in  all  companies  turns  on  religion, 
and  things  of  a  spiritual  nature."  "  Satan,  the  old  inhabitant, 
seems  to  exert  himself,  like  a  serpent  disturbed  and  en- 
raged." l  Benjamin  Franklin  remarked,  in  his  autobiography, 
1  EDWARDS  On  revivals,  pp.  52,  154-159. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  87 

"  It  was  wonderful  to  see  the  change  soon  made  in  the 
manners  of  our  inhabitants.  From  being  thoughtless  and 
indifferent  about  religion,  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  world  were 
growing  religious."  1  On  the  other  hand,  the  Presbyterian 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  which  had  been  rent  by  dissensions 
resulting  from  the  revival,  published  a  "  Protestation "  in 
which  the  preachers  of  the  awakening  were  censured  for 
"  preaching  the  Terrors  of  the  Law  in  such  manner  and 
Dialect  as  has  no  Precedent  in  the  Word  of  God,  but  rather 
appears  to  be  borrowed  from  a  worse  Dialect;  and  so  in- 
dustriously working  on  the  Passions  and  Affections  of  weak 
Minds,  as  to  cause  them  to  cry  out  in  a  hideous  Manner, 
and  fall  down  in  Convulsion-like  Fits  .  .  .  and  then  after 
all,  boasting  of  these  Things  as  the  Work  of  God,  which 
we  are  persuaded  do  proceed  from  an  inferior  or  worse 
Cause."  2 

With  education  so  intimately  bound  up  with  religion  as 
we  know  it  to  have  been  in  those  days,  such  a  movement  as 
the  Great  Awakening  could  not  fail  to  have  a  mighty  influ- 
ence on  the  development  of  schools.  The  Episcopalian  mis- 
sionary movement  affected  education,  but  chiefly  in  the  way 
of  quickening  activity  along  the  familiar  lines.  The  awak- 
ening, on  the  other  hand,  tended  to  the  undoing  of  old  forms 
and  the  making  of  new  types. 

This  educational  influence  may  be  seen  in  many  instances 
working  directly,  in  the  establishment  of  schools  by  reli- 
gious bodies  and  for  ends  immediately  connected  with  the 
spirit  of  the  revival.  But  in  a  larger  way,  it  worked  through 
social  changes  which  the  revival  furthered  or  brought  about. 
For  the  Great  Awakening,  like  the  Methodist  movement 
in  England,  had  much  to  do  with  the  rise  of  the  common 
people.  As  it  affected  American  theology  by  turning  it  in 
the  direction  of  such  doctrines  as  could  be  most  effectively 
preached  from  the  pulpit,3  and  affected  American  politics 

1  Op.  tit.,  edited  by  Bigelow,  p.  267. 

2  Protestation  to  the  Synod,  p.  11. 

8  Of.  BACON,  History  of  American  Christianity,  pp.  374-375. 


88  THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

by  quickening  the  growth  of  democracy,1  so  it  affected 
education  by  giving  the  people  a  new  interest  in  schools 
above  the  elementary  grade,  and  by  promoting  the  establish- 
ment of  such  schools  as  would  answer  to  this  interest. 

"  The  great  God  has  wrought  like  himself,"  wrote  Jona- 
than Edwards,  "  in  pouring  out  his  spirit  chiefly  on  the  com- 
mon people.  .  .  .  He  has  made  use  of  the  weak  and  foolish 
things  of  the  world  to  carry  on  his  work.  The  ministers 
that  have  been  chiefly  improved,  some  of  them  have  been 
mere  babes  in  age  and  standing,  and  some  of  them  such  as 
have  not  been  so  high  in  reputation  among  their  fellows  as 
many  others."  2  He  proposed  that,  for  the  furthering  of  the 
ends  sought  by  the  men  of  the  Great  Awakening,  schools 
should  be  endowed,  "  which  might  be  done  on  such  a  foun- 
dation, as  not  only  to  bring  up  children  in  common  learning, 
but  also,  might  very  much  tend  to  their  conviction  and  con- 
version, and  being  trained  up  in  vital  piety."  3  Even  before 
the  awakening,  a  notable  school  of  this  sort  had  been  estab- 
lished, which  had  a  numerous  offspring.  This  was  the 
"Log  College"  of  the  Eev.  William  Tennent. 

Whitefield  wrote  of  this  school  in  one  of  his  journals:  "  Set 
out  for  Neshaminy,  20  miles  distant  from  Trent-Town, 
where  old  Mr.  Tennent  lives,  and  keeps  an  Academy.  ...  It 
happened  very  providentially  that  Mr.  Tennent  and  his 
Brethren  are  appointed  to  be  a  Presbytery,  by  the  Synod ; 
so  that  they  intend  Breeding  up  gracious  Youths,  and  send- 
ing them  out,  from  time  to  time,  into  our  LORD'S  Vine- 
yard. —  The  Place  wherein  the  young  Men  study  now,  is,  in 
Contempt,  called,  The  College :  It  is  a  Log-house,  about 
20  Foot  long,  and  near  as  many  broad;  and  to  me  it 
seemed  to  resemble  the  School  of  the  old  Prophets.  .  .  . 
From  this  despised  Place,  seven  or  eight  worthy  ministers  of 
JESUS  have  lately  been  sent  forth  ;  more  are  almost  ready 

1  Cf.  EGGLESTON,  Transit  of  civilization,  p.  1 68. 

*  EDWARDS  On  revivals,  pp.  119-120.     (From  Thoughts  on  the  revival  of 
religion  in  New  England.) 

*  Op.  cit.,  p.  393. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  89 

to  be  sent ;  and  a  Foundation  is  now  Laying  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  many  others." l 

Mr.  Tennent  was  a  North-of-Ireland  man,  who  had 
entered  upon  his  pastorate  at  Neshaminy,  and  established 
his  school  there,  about  the  year  1726.  Numerous  schools 
were  opened  in  the  middle  and  southern  states,  within  the 
next  few  years,  by  Presbyterian  ministers  who  had  been 
trained  in  Mr.  Tennent's  "  academy,"  and  by  others  in  imi- 
tation of  such  example.  The  term  "  log  college,"  came  to  be 
used  as  a  generic  designation  of  any  school  of  this  sort. 
Mr.  Tennent  had  sons  who  were  ministers,  and  the  eldest 
of  them,  Gilbert  Tennent,  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of 
the  revival  preachers  who  followed  in  the  wake  of  George 
Whitefield.  The  Log  College  men  threw  themselves,  heart 
and  soul,  into  the  revival  movement ;  and  one  of  the  most 
significant  controversies  growing  out  of  that  movement  was 
that  in  which  their  presbytery  became  involved  with  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

The  question  at  issue  was  that  of  the  requirement  of  a 
college  training  of  candidates  for  ordination.  It  was  not 
the  first  time  nor  the  last  that  this  question  arose.  It  had 
come  up  for  discussion  in  the  preceding  century.  At  a 
later  time,  when  the  area  of  settlement  was  rapidly  enlarg- 
ing in  the  west,  it  became  increasingly  difficult  of  answer. 
At  the  time  of  the  awakening,  when  colleges  were  still 
chiefly  for  the  training  of  ministers,  and  secondary  schools 
chiefly  preparatory  to  such  colleges,  the  question  was  a  vital 
one  in  its  bearing  on  the  development  of  both  secondary 
and  higher  education. 

The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  stood  for  the  traditional  require- 
ment. The  presbytery  would  have  promising  candidates 
ordained  though  they  should  offer  only  the  incomplete 
preparation  provided  by  the  Log  College.  The  two  parties 
failed  to  come  to  an  agreement,  and  a  separation  resulted, 
after  the  good  old  Presbyterian  fashion.  The  affair  ran  a 

1  A  continuation  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Whitefield 's  Journal,  etc.,  II.,  pp. 
143-144.  The  date  is  November  22,  1739. 


L 


•90  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

devious  course,  which  would  be  long  in  the  telling.  But 
it  eventuated  in  the  establishment  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  now  Princeton  University,  by  men  of  the  awaken- 
ing, an  important  part  in  the  enterprise  being  borne  by 
some  who  were  not  distinctively  of  the  Log  College  party.1 

The  College  of  New  Jersey  became  a  spiritual  centre  to 
•which  the  classical  schools  set  up  by  Presbyterian  minis- 
ters here  and  there  were  tributary.  The  college  stimulated 
the  schools ;  and  when  its  graduates  went  forth,  they  went 
as  missionaries  of  education  as  well  as  of  religion.  After 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  accordingly,  the 
Princeton  influence  was  a  force  to  be  counted  on  in  the 
extension  of  secondary  instruction. 

With  this  introduction  we  may  now  enter  upon  a  more 
particular  survey  of  the  state  of  secondary  education  dur- 
ing this  period  in  the  several  colonies.  While  many  in- 
fluences were  at  work,  industrial,  commercial,  political,  the 
two  new  currents  which  most  obviously  directed  the  course 
of  that  education  were  those  which  have  been  described : 
the  new  colonial  activity  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the 
whole  set  of  tendencies  which  culminated  in  the  Great 
Awakening.  Generally  speaking,  the  first  of  these  was  con- 
servative, and  the  second  made  for  change.  Already  there 
was  a  settled  tradition  of  education  in  the  Puritan  colonies, 
and  this  made  a  second  conservative  element.  Despite  all 
differences,  the  religious  and  educational  influence  of  the 
Puritans  and  that  of  the  Anglicans'  often  set  in  the  same 
direction. 

We  shall  see  later  how  the  two  tendencies,  the  Puritan- 
Anglican  and  the  New  Light  were  interacting  to  produce 
what  was,  perhaps,  the  first  really  American  type  of  school, 
the  American  academy.  But  the  real  academy  belongs  to 
the  earlier  years  of  independence;  and  for  the  present  we 
need  concern  ourselves  only  to  see  what  was  actually  doing 
in  the  educational  affairs  of  the  several  colonies  down  to 

1  ALEXANDER,  The  Log  College.  MACLEAN,  History  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  91 

the  time  of  the  Revolution.  This  survey  must  necessarily 
be  brief,  supplementing  general  statements  with  a  few  typi- 
cal or  remarkable  instances. 

On  the  whole,  the  grammar  schools  of  the  earlier  type 
were  slowly  declining.  Their  "  decay  "  is  spoken  of  as  early 
as  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  New 
Hampshire,  the  laws  relating  to  the  support  of  grammar 
schools  were  revised  from  time  to  time,  in  the  direction  of 
greater  strictness.  The  advent  of  Scotch-Irish  settlers,  near 
the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  century,  tended  to 
strengthen  the  educational  spirit  of  the  province.  Under  a 
provision  embodied  in  an  act  of  1719,  towns  might  apply,  in 
case  of  need,  for  relief  from  the  legal  requirements  relative 
to  the  support  of  schools.  As  the  century  advanced  and 
the  burdens  of  war  with  the  French  and  Indians  came  to 
be  severely  felt,  some  towns  availed  themselves  of  this  pro- 
vision, or  neglected  the  maintenance  of  schools  without 
regard  to  formal  dispensation.1 

It  was  a  bold  step  that  was  taken  by  the  makers  of  Dart- 
mouth College  —  and  a  step  of  great  significance  in  the 
later  educational  history  of  the  state  —  when  they  pro- 
ceeded, in  1769,  to  set  up  their  institution  for  the  education 
of  both  white  men  and  Indians,  in  the  heart  of  what  was 
then  the  western  wilderness.  The  rise  of  this  institution 
was  intimately  connected,  through  President  Eleazar  Wheel- 
ock,  with  the  general  movement  of  the  awakening.2 

In  Massachusetts,  though  the  penalty  for  neglect  was 
repeatedly  increased,  the  records  show  that  grand  juries 
were  still  hard  put-to  to  enforce  observance  of  the  law  for 
grammar  schools.  Lieutenant-Governor  William  Dummer, 
who  died  in  1761,  bequeathed  his  dwelling-house  and  farm 
of  nearly  three  hundred  acres,  in  Byfield  parish,  Newbury, 
for  the  establishment  of  a  grammar  school.  This  was  a 
notable  act  in  more  ways  than  one.  It  broke  away  from 
the  tradition  of  local  and  public  provision  for  education, 

1  WINTERBOTHAM,  Vieiv,  etc.,  II.,  pp.  119-120. 

2  BUSH,  History  of  education  in  New  Hampshire,  passim. 


92  THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

which  had  been  prevalent  in  Massachusetts  from  the  earliest 
days.  It  was  not  the  first  departure  from  that  tradition, 
to  be  sure ; 1  but  coming  when  it  did,  it  heralded  a  new 
movement. 

There  was  much  fumbling  in  the  external  management 
of  this  school  during  the  first  years  of  its  existence,  which 
hints  at  a  painful  adjustment  to  changing  notions  of  school 
administration.  But  under  the  first  master,  Samuel  Moody, 
there  was  no  uncertainty  in  its  internal  management.  He 
made  it  a  grammar  school  of  the  olden  type,  strictly  devoted 
to  the  business  of  preparing  boys  for  college.  Among  the 
boys  whom  he  sent  to  Harvard  was  Samuel  Phillips,  who 
became  the  prime  mover  in  the  establishment  of  the  Phillips 
Academy  at  Andover.  After  this  later  institution  had 
inaugurated  the  academy  movement  in  Massachusetts,  the 
Dummer  school  was  transformed  into  the  Dummer  Acad- 
emy, receiving  an  act  of  incorporation  in  1782.2 

In  Connecticut,  one  characteristic  outcome  of  the  Great 
Awakening  is  recorded.  Some  enthusiastic  New  Lights 
established,  at  New  London,  an  institution  which  was 
known  as  the  "  Shepherd's  Tent."  This  was  intended  as  a 
training  school  for  future  ministers,  exhorters,  and  teachers. 
But  the  colonial  legislature,  under  Old  Light  domination, 
was  zealous  for  the  established  education  as  well  as  for  the 
established  religion ;  and  a  strict  enactment  was  passed  for- 
bidding any  one  to  conduct  any  sort  of  public  school,  other 
than  those  provided  for  by  law,  without  legislative 
permission.3  This  act,  passed  in  1742,  was  to  continue  in 
force  for  a  period  of  four  years.  With  the  growth  of  New 
Light  influence  in  the  colony,  we  see  signs  of  a  growing 
hospitality  toward  educational  experiments. 

Steps  were  taken  from  time  to  time  to  provide  for  the 
education  of  the  Indians  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Con- 

1  The  grammar  school  at  Hadley,  at  least,  was  neither  local  nor  public 
according  to  any  close  definition  of  the  terms. 

2  CLEAVELAND,  Centennial  address. 

8  Public  records  of  Connecticut,  VIII.,  pp.  500-502. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  93 

necticut.  The  most  notable  undertaking  of  this  sort  was 
the  Moor's  Indian  Charity  School,  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
Eleazar  Wheelock.  Dr.  Wheelock  was  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  preachers  of  the  Great  Awakening.  He  became 
pastor  of  a  church  in  Lebanon  in  1735,  and  like  many  other 
ministers  of  that  day  received  boys  into  his  family  for  classi- 
cal instruction.  After  a  time  a  school  grew  up  under  his  care, 
to  which  a  number  of  Indian  youth  were  admitted.  Among 
these  were  Samson  Occum,  who  became  a  powerful  preacher, 
and  was  listened  to  with  marked  attention  even  in  Old  Eng- 
land ;  and  Joseph  Brant,  who  achieved  a  less  worthy  notoriety 
during  the  Revolutionary  War.  Joshua  Moor  bequeathed  to 
this  school  a  house  and  lands,  and  from  him  it  took  its 
name.1  A  few  years  before  the  Revolution  it  reappeared  in 
New  Hampshire,  where  it  gave  rise  to  a  higher  and  broader 
institution,  under  the  honorable  designation  of  Dartmouth 
College. 

An  important  school  was  established  at  Lebanon  in  1743, 
by  Governor  Trumbull,  over  which  Nathan  Tisdale  presided 
for  thirty  years  and  more.  Both  the  sons  and  the  daughters 
of  the  Governor  attended  this  school,  and  it  drew  other 
students  from  far  and  near.  Just  before  the  Revolution,  in 
1774,  the  "  Union  School  of  New  London  "  was  incorporated. 
Both  of  these  institutions  were  virtually  early  academies, 
though  not  designated  as  such.2 

The  province  of  New  York  seems  to  have  been  without 
a  grammar  school  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.  On  the 
recommendation  of  Governor  Cornbury,  an  act  was  passed 
in  1702,  providing  that,  for  the  term  of  seven  years,  fifty 
pounds  be  raised  annually  by  taxation  for  the  support  of  a 
grammar  school  master,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  This  tax 
was  to  be  levied  in  the  same  manner  as  that  for  the  support 
of  a  minister.  The  master  must  be  licensed  by  the  Bishop 
of  London,  or  by  the  Governor  or  commander-in-chief  of  the 

1  There  is  an  interesting  account  of  this  school,  by  a  former  pupil,  in  the 
Diary  of  David  McClure,  pp.  6-8. 

2  STEINER,  Education  in  Connecticut,  pp.  31-34. 


94  THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

province.  This  bill  was  not  passed  without  much  haggling 
over  its  provisions.  George  Muirson  seems  to  have  been 
master  of  the  school  for  which  it  provided,  in  1704-05.  It 
is  not  clear  that  it  was  in  operation  either  before  or  after 
his  incumbency. 

Another  New  York  school  which  presents  many  points 
of  interest  was  established  in  1732,  by  act  of  the  provincial 
legislature.  Certain  moneys  coming  in  from  the  licensing 
of  hawkers  and  pedlers  were  set  aside  for  the  encouragement 
of  the  master,  to  the  amount  of  forty  pounds  per  annum. 
And  a  like  amount,  "  Currant  Money  of  this  Colony,"  was 
assessed  in  the  same  manner  as  that  devoted  to  the  support 
of  the  ministry.  The  condition  of  these  grants  was  that 
twenty  youths  from  various  parts  of  the  province  should  be 
taught  gratis.  Mr.  Alexander  Malcolm,  who  had  been  keep- 
ing a  private  school,  was  named  in  the  act  as  the  first  master. 
The  school  was  set  up  "  to  teach  Latin,  Greek,  and  all  the 
Parts  of  Mathematicks."  Mr.  Malcolm  announced  that  under 
the  last-named  head  he  gave  instruction  in  geometry,  algebra, 
geography,  navigation,  and  "  Merchants  Book-keeping,"  and 
that,  inasmuch  as  "  the  younger  Scholars  at  this  School  are 
in  hazard  of  losing  their  Writing,  through  the  loss  of  Time 
and  Diversion,  occasioned  by  their  going  from  one  School  to 
another,"  he  would  teach  writing  to  such  of  his  Latin  schol- 
ars as  thought  fit  to  employ  him. 1 

This  school  was  confirmed  and  continued  by  a  second  act 
of  the  legislature,  which  expired  in  1738  by  limitation.  The 
school  is  said  to  have  been  continued  after  that  time  and 
to  have  formed  the  germ  of  Columbia  College.  But  the 
evidence  on  these  points  is  not  clear. 

In  1753,  one  number2  of  the  Independent  Reflector  was 
devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the  need  of  grammar  schools  in 
the  colony.  "We  are  not  only  surpassed,"  so  the  paper 

1  The  documentary  history  of  these  schools  is  given  by  PRATT,  Annals 
of  public  education.     Eighty-third  report  of  the  Regents,  pp.  632-643,  672- 
687. 

2  The  Independent  Reflector,  no.  50,  November  8,  1753.     The  writer  was 
in  all  probability  William  Livingston. 


LATER  COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  95 

reads,  "by  several  of  our  Neighbors,  who  have  long  since 
erected  Colleges  for  publick  instruction,  but  by  all  others, 
even  in  common  Schools  ;  of  which  I  have  heard  it  lamented, 
that  we  have  scarce  ever  had  a  good  One  in  the  Province. 
It  is  true,  we  had  a  Law  which  declared  in  its  Preamble, 
that  the  Youth  of  this  Province,  were  not  inferior  in  their 
Geniusses  to  those  of  any  other  Country ;  But  against  this 
it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  Law  is  long  since  expired,  and 
probably  our  natural  Ingenuity  abated,  and  even  tho'  this 
was  not  the  Case,  I  can  by  no  Means  agree,  that  the  natural 
Fertility  of  our  Geniusses,  is  a  sufficient  Keason  for  the 
total  Neglect  of  their  Cultivation." 

The  writer  proposes  that  two  grammar  schools  be  set  up 
in  each  county,  under  public  control,  and  that  fifty  pounds 
a  year  be  raised  annually  by  taxation  for  the  support  of  each 
of  the  masters.  These  schools  should  prepare  boys  for  en- 
trance into  the  new  college  of  the  colony,  which  could  not 
be  done  properly  in  a  less  period  than  four  years.  It  is 
especially  urged  that  no  grammar  school  be  erected  within 
the  college,  such  a  proceeding  being  contrary  to  all  the  tra- 
ditions of  colleges  and  universities.  This  proposal,  however, 
came  to  nothing ;  and  a  grammar  school  was  opened  in 
connection  with  King's  College,  in  1763,  which  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  foremost  classical  schools  of  the 
middle  states.1 

The  early  secondary  schools  of  New  Jersey  were  largely 
an  outgrowth  of  the  Great  Awakening.  Dr.  Jonathan  Dick- 
inson had  a  classical  school  at  Elizabethtown  previous  to 
1745,  and  about  the  same  time  the  Eev.  Aaron  Burr  con- 
ducted a  similar  school  at  Newark.  These  schools  were 
among  the  forerunners  of  Princeton  College,  of  which  insti- 
tution Dickinson  and  Burr  were  successively  president.  The 
grammar  school  connected  with  the  college  played  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  early  secondary  education  of  the  colony.  A 
Baptist  school  was  opened  at  Hopewell  in  1756.  Ten  years 
later  an  important  grammar  school  was  established  by  two 
1  MOORE,  Historical  sketch  of  Columbia  College,  y.p.  52,  66,  89,  97. 


96  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

schoolmasters  in  partnership  at  Elizabethtown.  Washing- 
ton Academy,  at  Hackensack,  was  established  in  1769, 
probably  as  consolation  to  that  community  for  the  outcome 
of  the  controversy  with  reference  to  the  location  of  Kutgers 
College,  in  which  New  Brunswick  had  won  and  Hackensack 
had  lost.1 

In  South  Carolina,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  colony, 
it  was  the  prevalent  practice  of  the  planters  to  send  their 
sons  to  England  for  an  education.  Here,  as  in  Virginia, 
the  development  of  schools  was  retarded  by  the  scattering 
of  the  people  on  large  plantations ;  and  the  character  of 
such  schools  as  were  opened  was  largely  influenced  by 
the  establishment  of  the  English  Church  in  the  colony,  and 
by  the  missionary  activity  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  provision  for 
schools  previous  to  1710.  In  that  year  the  legislature 
passed  "  An  act  for  the  founding  and  erecting  of  a  free 
school,  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  South  Carolina." 
This  act  set  up  a  corporation  empowered  to  receive  gifts 
and  legacies  and  administer  the  same  for  a  colony  free 
school.  Several  bequests  for  this  purpose  had  already  been 
made.  The  "  preceptor  and  teacher  of  grammar  and  other 
arts  and  sciences"  in  this  school  must  be  a  conforming 
member  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  "  capable  to  teach 
the  learned  languages,  that  is  to  say,  the  Latin  and  Greek 
tongues,  and  also  the  useful  parts  of  the  mathematics." 
Provision  was  also  made  for  the  appointment  of  a  writing 
master.  But  no  public  funds  were  granted  for  any  of 
these  purposes,  and  nothing  seems  to  have  been  accom- 
plished under  the  act. 

Two  years  later  an  act  was  passed  renewing  this  corpora- 
tion, and  appointing  Mr.  John  Douglass  first  master  of  the 
school,  which  was  located  at  Charleston ;  and  life  was  given 
to  the  new  enactment  by  an  appropriation  of  public  funds. 
It  was  provided  that,  in  addition  to  a  residence,  the  master 
should  receive,  out  of  the  public  treasury,  the  sum  of  one 

1  MURRAY,  History  of  education  in  New  Jersey,  passim. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  97 

hundred  pounds  annually.  In  consideration  of  this  grant, 
he  was  required  to  teach  twelve  scholars  free  of  charge. 
For  others,  he  might  charge  four  pounds  a  year.  A  gift  of 
twenty  pounds  to  the  school  should  entitle  the  donor  to 
nominate  a  scholar,  who  should  be  taught  free  for  a  period 
of  five  years.  Provision  was  made  for  an  usher;  and  also 
for  a  fit  person  "  to  teach  writing,  arithmetic,  and  merchants' 
accounts,  and  also  the  art  of  navigation  and  surveying,  and 
other  useful  and  practical  parts  of  mathematics." 1  A  sig- 
nificant addition  to  this  act  was  a  section  providing  that 
schoolmasters  in  other  parishes  should  receive  a  colonial 
subsidy  of  ten  pounds  a  year,  and  empowering  the  parish 
vestries  to  build  schoolhouses,  with  the  aid  of  twelve  pounds; 
in  each  case,  from  the  provincial  treasury. 

A  congregation  of  settlers  from  the  Massachusetts  Dor- 
chester migrated,  in  the  traditional  fashion  associated  with 
that  name,  to  South  Carolina,  and  there  set  up  a  new  Dor- 
chester. In  1734  an  act  of  the  legislature  authorized  them 
to  erect  a  free  school,  "  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
South  Carolina."  It  would  seem  that  no  special  fund  was 
voted  for  the  encouragement  of  this  school.  The  master 
was  not  required  to  be  a  churchman ;  but  it  was  provided 
that  he  should  "  be  capable  to  teach  the  learned  languages, 
Latin  and  Greek  tongues,  and  to  catechise  and  instruct  the 
youth  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion."2  After 
the  middle  of  the  century,  when  a  further  migration  from 
this  South  Carolina  Dorchester  to  Georgia  had  taken  place, 
the  school  was  reorganized,  with  the  rector  of  the  parish 
as  one  of  the  commissioners  ex  officio,  and  a  colonial  subsidy 
of  twenty-five  pounds,  "proclamation  money,"  semi-annually 
was  granted  to  it  out  of  the  church  fund  in  the  colonial 
treasury. 

Several  other  important  endowments  of  secondary  educa- 
tion are  recorded  in  the  colonial  period.  Among  them  were 

1  The  documentary  history  of  this  school  is  given  in  CLEWS,  op.  cit., 
pp.  442-465. 

3  CLEWS,   op.  cit.,  pp.  465-472. 


98        THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

those  of  the  free  school  at  Childsbury  (1733),  the  Beresford 
Bounty  School  near  Charleston  (1721),  the  school  of  the 
Winyaw  Indigo  Society  at  Georgetown  (1756),  and  others 
at  Goose  Creek,  Beaufort,  and  Ninety-six.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  of  these  endowments  is  that  made  at  .Georgetown, 
by  the  Indigo  Society,  which  now  provides  a  portion  of  the 
support  of  the  Georgetown  High  School. 

In  connection  with  the  Presbyterian  churches  in  the  upper 
country,  instruction  was  frequently  given  in  the  classic 
languages.  In  this  way,  the  Log  College  and  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  made  their  influence  felt  in  the  South. 
According  to  Mr.  Edward  McCrady,  there  were  in  South 
Carolina  up  to  the  close  of  the  Eevolution  eleven  public 
and  three  charitable  grammar  schools  of  which  record  can 
be  found.  In  1722  an  act  was  passed  which  authorized  the 
justices  of  county  and  precinct  courts  to  set  up  a  Latin 
school  in  each  county  and  precinct  in  the  province,  and  to 
impose  a  tax  for  its  support,  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
anything  came  of  this  provision.1 

Economic  conditions  in  North  Carolina  were  similarly 
unfavorable  to  the  establishment  of  schools.  Governor 
Johnson  said,  in  1736,  "That  the  legislature  has  never  yet 
taken  the  least  care  to  erect  one  school  which  deserves  the 
name,  in  this  wide  extended  country,  must  in  the  judgment 
of  all  thinking  men,  be  reckoned  one  of  our  greatest  misfort- 
unes." According  to  Mr.  Charles  Lee  Smith,  the  first  act  of 
the  North  Carolina  legislature  for  the  establishment  of  a 
school  was  passed  in  1749.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  school 
then  established  in  law  was  ever  established  in  fact.  The 
first  real  impulse  toward  the  higher  education  came  from  the 
Presbyterian  ministry.  The  Kev.  James  Tate  established  a 
classical  school  in  the  city  of  Wilmington  about  1760.  The 

1  CLEWS,  op.  cit.  ;  MERI WETHER,  History  of  higher  education  in  South 
Carolina;  McCRADY,  Education  in  South  Carolina.  See  also  McCRADY, 
South  Carolina  under  the  proprietanj  government ;  and  South  Carolina  under 
the  royal  government,  passim.  Particularly  entertaining  accounts  of  the  Beres- 
ford Bounty  School  and  that  of  the  Winyaw  Indigo  Society  appear  in  chapter 
I.  of  MERIWETHER'S  monograph. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  99 

Rev.  David  Caldwell,  D.D.,  opened  a  classical  school  in  Guil- 
ford  County,  in  1766  or  1767.  This  soon  became  "  one  of  the 
most  noted  schools  of  the  South."  A  classical  school,  estab- 
lished about  the  same  time  at  the  Sugar  Creek  Presbyterian 
Church,  near  Charlotte,  was  the  beginning  of  Queen's  College, 
afterwards  (1777)  chartered  by  the  state  legislature  as 
Liberty  Hall  Academy.1 

As  to  Virginia,  we  have  reports  presented  in  1724  from 
twenty-nine  out  of  about  forty-five  parishes.  In  six  of 
these  there  were  public  schools,  and  private  schools  were 
reported  in  eleven.  The  others  had  no  public  schools,  and 
no  report  was  presented  with  reference  to  private  schools  in 
them.2  Probably  the  most  of  these  schools  were  of  elemen- 
tary grade. 

Eaton's  Charity  School  and  Syms'  Free  School  continued 
their  good  work ;  and  for  the  better  management  of  those 
institutions,  their  boards  of  trustees  were  incorporated  by 
the  legislature  in  the  seventeen-fifties.  Provision  was  made 
at  Norfolk,  in  1736,  for  a  school,  the  master  of  which  should 
be  "  capable  to  teach  the  Greek  and  Latin  tongues."  This 
master  was  to  be  nominated  by  the  county  authorities  after 
being  examined  and  approved  by  the  faculty  of  William  and 
Mary  College.  The  school  established  by  Henry  Peasley  in 
1675,  was  reported  in  1724  as  endowed  with  five  hundred 
acres  of  land,  three  slaves,  and  a  number  of  cattle.  The 
trustees  of  this  school  were  directed  by  a  legislative  act 
of  1756  to  found  a  free  school  in  each  of  the  parishes  of 
Abingdon  and  Ware.  Various  other  endowed  schools  appear 
in  the  records,  but  rather  vaguely.3 

Many  boys  were  educated  in  their  homes  by  private 
tutors.  George  Washington  attended  an  academy  in  Fred- 
ericksburg,  of  which  the  Rev.  James  Marye  was  master. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  period  under  consideration,  the 

1  SMITH,  History  of  education  in  North  Carolina,  passim. 
*  PERRY'S  Historical  collections,   quoted  in    William  and  Mary   College 
Quarterly,  VI.,  p.  78,  foot-wote. 

8   William  and  Mary  College  Quarterly,  loc.  cit. 


100          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

schools  established  by  Scotch-Irish  ministers  in  the  upland 
regions  were  influential  here,  as  in  neighboring  colonies.  l 

Mr.  Basil  Sellers  has  traced,  with  the  greatest  pains,  the 
history  of  the  several  county  schools  of  Maryland.  Fifteen 
of  these  were  established  in  colonial  times.  "  The  scarcity 
of  good  teachers  seems,"  he  says,  "  from  the  many  advertise- 
ments promising  '  suitable  encouragement '  to  any  person 
qualified  for  a  schoolmaster,  to  have  been  an  unsurmount- 
able  obstacle  to  the  continuous  success  of  the  public  or 
county  schools.  Another  cause  of  failure  was  want  of 
interest  on  the  part  of  visitors.  .  .  .Their  usefulness  had  at 
the  time  of  the  Revolution  practically  ceased  in  most 


cases."  a 

The  success  of  the  academy  and  college  in  Philadelphia 
roused  the  Mary  landers  to  emulation.  Repeated  efforts  were 
made  to  establish  a  college  in  the  province,  and  for  a  time 
with  good  prospect  of  success.  But  the  coming  on  of  revo- 
lutionary disturbances  prevented  a  realization  of  these  pro- 
jects. An  occasional  private  classical  school  appears  in  the 
history  of  the  colony.  The  Presbyterian  minister  comes 
upon  the  scene,  with  his  unfailing  zeal  for  learning.  The 
Rev.  Samuel  Finley's  academy  at  Nottingham  (1744-1761) 
was  a  famous  school,  in  which  two  governors,  a  speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  and  his 
brother  Jacob,  and  other  distinguished  men  received  their 
early  training.8  The  founder  became  president  of  Princeton 
College.  Some  of  the  Episcopalian  rectors  did  good  service 
by  undertaking  the  education  of  a  few  boys  in  addition  to 
their  regular  duties.  One  of  these  was  the  famous  Jonathan 
Boucher  of  Annapolis. 

In  an  address  prepared  by  Dr.  Boucher  in  1773,  a  vivid 
account  is  given  of  the  sorry  state  of  Maryland  education  on 
the  eve  of  the  Revolution.  "  In  a  country  containing  not 
less  than  half  a  million  souls,"  so  runs  a  part  of  this  address 

1  Of.  FISKE,  Old  Virginia  and  her  neighbors,  II.,  pp.  246-253. 

2  STEINER,  Education  in  Maryland,  pp.  32-33. 

8  ALEXANDER,  The  Log  College,  pp.  294,  305-306. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  10.1 

"  (  .  .  .  a  people  further  advanced  in  many  of  the  refine- 
ments of  life  than  many  large  districts  even  of  the  parent 
state,  and  in  general  thriving  if  not  opulent)  there  is  yet 
not  a  single  college,  and  only  one  school  with  an  endowment 
adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  even  a  common  mechanic. 
What  is  still  less  credible  is  that  at  least  two-thirds  of  the 
little  education  we  receive  are  derived  from  instructors  who 
are  either  indentured  servants  or  transported  felons."  l 

In  Rhode  Island,  a  new  beginning  of  secondary  education 
was  made  in  1764,  by  the  establishment  of  the  University 
Grammar  School  at  Warren.  The  Rev.  James  Manning,  an 
excellent  man,  was  the  first  master  of  this  school.  When 
later  in  the  same  year,  Rhode  Island  College  (now  Brown 
University)  was  founded,  Dr.  Manning  became  its  first  presi- 
dent. The  school  was,  in  fact,  the  direct  forerunner  of  the 
college,  and  when  the  college  came  into  existence,  the 
school  was  continued  as  one  of  its  chief  tributaries.2 

We  find  no  record  of  secondary  education  in  Georgia  pre- 
vious to  the  Revolution.  Much  interest  centred  in  the 
Orphan  House  at  Bethesda,  established  by  Whitefield,  and 
long  supported  by  funds  which  he  solicited.3  Whitefield 
sought  to  carry  this  institution  upward  into  a  full  collegiate 
organization.  Franklin  writes  that  the  last  time  he  saw 
him,  the  preacher  consulted  him  with  reference  to  his 
purpose  of  transforming  his  Orphan  House  into  a  college. 
When  the  college  project  failed,  in  1767,  because  of  dis- 
agreement with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Whitefield 
wrote  to  the  governor  of  Georgia:  " I  now  purpose  to  super- 
add  a  public  academy  to  the  Orphan  House,  as  the  College 
of  Philadelphia  was  constituted  a  public  academy,  as  well  as 
charitable  school,  for  some  time  before  its  present  college 
charter  was  granted."  4  But  the  academy  project,  too,  failed 

1  This  address  is  found  in  BOUCHER'S  View  of  the  American  Revolution. 

2  TOLMAN,  History  of  higher  education  in  Rhode  Island. 

8  Many  will  recall  at  once  the  amusing  story  told  by  Franklin  in  his  auto* 
biography  of  Whitefield's  success  in  persuading  him  to  empty  his  pockets  for 
the  benefit  of  this  charity. 

*  TYERMAN,  Life  of  Whitefield,  II.,  p.  528. 


102          T-ffE  MA'KfNG   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

for  the  time.  Long  after  the  Ee volution,  when  the  affairs 
of  the  Orphan  House  were  wound  up  by  act  of  the  legis- 
lature, a  portion  of  the  proceeds  went  to  the  support  of 
Chatham  Academy.1 

While  the  Log  College  was  engaging  the  attention  of 
Presbyterians  to  the  northward  of  Philadelphia,  the  presby- 
teries to  the  southward,  in  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  were 
making  plans  of  their  own  for  the  maintenance  of  a  learned 
ministry.  The  most  feasible  scheme  which  presented  itself 
to  them  was  that  of  establishing  a  school  which  should  con- 
duct its  students  well  on  into  the  college  course.  It  was 
thought  that  an  arrangement  might  then  be  made  with  Yale 
College  to  take  the  students  at  that  point  and  carry  them 
forward  to  the  bachelor's  degree.  Three  presbyteries  com- 
bined their  forces  to  establish  such  a  school  in  1743.  The 
Synod  of  Philadelphia  approved  of  the  enterprise,  and  took 
it  in  hand  the  following  year.  The  Kev,  Francis  Alison  was 
chosen  master,  at  a  salary  of  twenty  pounds  a  year,  with 
authority  to  select  an  usher  who  should  receive  fifteen 
pounds  a  year.  The  authorities  of  Yale  College  received 
the  overtures  of  the  new  institution  with  friendly  sympathy 
and  apparently  agreed  to  receive  its  students  to  such  stand- 
ing as  their  scholarship  should  justify,  and  to  admit  them  to 
a  degree  after  one  year's  residence.  It  is  not  known  whether 
any  students  ever  availed  themselves  of  this  privilege. 

The  master  designated  by  the  synod  was  pastor  of  a  Presby- 
terian church  at  New  London,  Pennsylvania,  and  had  already 
opened  a  school  on  his  own  account.  This  became  the 
school  of  the  synod  in  1744.  It  was  fondly  hoped  by  the 
promoters  that  it  would  grow  into  a  college ;  but  the  course 
of  events  led  to  the  setting  up  of  our  first  Presbyterian  insti- 
tution of  higher  education  in  New  Jersey,  under  different 
auspices. 

Francis  Alison  was  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of 
his  time  in  the  colonies.  President  Stiles  of  Yale  College 
spoke  of  him  as  "  the  greatest  classical  scholar  in  Amer- 

1  JONES,  Education  in  Georgia,  pp.  11-16. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  103 

ica,  especially  in  Greek."  He  had  a  hasty  temper  —  no 
uncommon  thing  in  the  school  men  of  that  time  —  but  was 
placable,  and  commanded  the  love  and  respect  of  his  pupils. 
Many  of  these  attained  to  considerable  eminence.  In  1752 
he  withdrew  from  the  school  at  New  London  to  become  the 
head  of  the  academy  established  at  Philadelphia  through 
the  efforts  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 

The  school  of  the  synod  was  continued;  and  was  removed 
to  Elkton  in  1752,  and  to  Newark,  Delaware,  in  1767.  It 
was  chartered  by  the  Proprietaries  two  years  later  as 
Newark  Academy.  This  was  one  of  the  earliest  institu- 
tions for  secondary  education  in  Delaware.  The  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  had  done  much  for  educa- 
tion in  the  Three  Lower  Counties,  but  this  was  mainly  of 
an  elementary  grade.  The  Newark  Academy  added  an  im- 
portant element  to  the  educational  facilities  of  that  region.  l 

The  effort  of  the  promoters  of  the  school  at  New  London 
to  maintain  the  requirement  of  some  sort  of  college  course 
in  the  case  of  candidates  for  the  ministry  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark. It  was  easy  for  Yale  College  to  co-operate  with  such 
a  movement,  for  Connecticut  Congregationalism  was  half- 
way Presbyterian.  The  Yale  policy,  too,  at  this  time,  was 
strongly  opposed  to  the  New  Light  party,  with  all  of  its 
tendency  toward  a  social  and  educational  levelling  down. 

Secondary  instruction  was  given  at  many  places  in  Penn- 
sylvania during  this  period,  but  too  often  the  efforts  in  this 
direction  were  short-lived.  The  stress  of  economic  need  and 
the  pressure  of  war  and  political  agitation,  were  unfavorable 
to  spiritual  concerns.  Brave  efforts  were  made  by  some  of 
the  German  sects  to  maintain  schools  of  high  grade.  The 
Quakers  exerted  themselves  to  the  same  end,  often  uniting 
their  efforts  with  those  of  other  denominations ;  and  broaden- 
ing their  courses  of  instruction  by  the  addition  of  mathe- 
matical and  scientific  subjects,  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
time.  Much  good  work  was  done  in  several  communities 

1  ALEXANDER,  The  Log  College,  chapter  7.  POWELL,  History  of  educes 
tion  in  Delaware.  Catalogue  of  the  Academy. 


104          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

by  the  Episcopalian  churches,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  And  the  Log 
College  Presbyterians  carried  a  zeal  for  classical  instruction 
with  them  wherever  they  appeared. 

Yet  it  was  an  uphill  road  that  they  travelled.  "  In  1775," 
says  Mr.  Wickersham,  "not  only  was  the  number  of  scholarly 
men  in  the  Province  small,  but  comparatively  few  grown  per- 
sons could  do  more  than  read,  write  and  calculate  according 
to  the  elementary  rules  of  Arithmetic,  and  many  remained 
wholly  illiterate.  There  was  little  demand  for  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  and  few  existed.  The  College  and  the 
Friends'  Public  School  in  Philadelphia,  the  Academy  at 
Germantown,  and  scarcely  half  a  dozen  private  classical 
schools  in  the  older  settled  counties,  with  in  all  an  attend- 
ance of  three  or  four  hundred  students,  absolutely  exhaust 
the  advantages  of  this  character  enjoyed  at  home  by  our 
Kevolutionary  fathers." l 

The  several  tendencies  of  this  period  were  blended  to  a 
remarkable  degree  in  the  school  established  at  Philadelphia 
through  the  efforts  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  This  school  is 
believed  to  have  been  the  first  institution  formally  incorpo- 
rated in  this  country  under  the  title  of  academy.  In  many 
ways}  its  establishment  marks  the  beginning  of  the  first 
stage  of  that  academy  movement  which  had  been  fore- 
shadowed by  many  variations  from  the  earlier  type  of  edu- 
cation, and  for  which  the  social,  economic,  and  religious 
changes  of  half  a  century  had  prepared  the  way.  The  mak- 
ing of  this  school  will  be  reviewed  in  connection  with  the 
story  of  the  American  academies. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  volumes  of  the  "  American  Church  History  "  series  (Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons),  give  a  comprehensive  view  of  ecclesiastical  and  religious  move- 
ments in  the  colonies.  In  connection  with  this  chapter,  the  following 
numbers  are  especially  useful : 

1  Op.  tit.,  pp.  255-256. 


LATER   COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  105 

WALKER,  WILLISTON.  A  history  of  the  Congregational  churches  in  the 
United  States.  III.,  fourth  ed.,  1899. 

THOMPSON,  REV.  R.  E.     History  of  the   Presbyterian  churches  in  the 
United  States.     VI.,  1895. 

TIFFANY,  REV.  C.  C.  A  history  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America.  VII.,  1895. 

BACON,  LEONARD  WOOLSEY.  A  history  of  American  Christianity.  XIII., 
1897. 

A  great  mass  of  information  is  embodied  in  the 

Classified  digest  of  the  records  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  1701-1892,  fifth  edition.  London:  Pub- 
lished  at  the  Society's  Office,  1895.  Pp.  16  4-  984. 

Chapter  94,  pp.  743-768,  contains  a  full  history  of  the  movement  in 
favor  of  a  colonial  episcopate.  Cf.  CROSS,  The  Anglican  episcopate. 

For  New  England's  part  in  the  Great  Awakening,  we  have  the  vivid 
accounts  by  JONATHAN  EDWARDS,  in  his  Faithful  narrative,  1736,  and 
Thoughts  on  the  revival,  1742.  These  were  reprinted  in  a  volume  entitled 
Edwards  on  revivals,  published  at  New  York,  in  1832.  The  histories  of 
Harvard  and  Yale  Colleges,  and  New  England  state  and  local  histories, 
give  us  many  views  of  the  awakening. 

For  the  middle  states,  we  get  an  insight  into  the  nature  and  results  of 
the  awakening  from  ALEXANDER'S  Biographical  sketches  of  the  founder, 
and  principal  alumni  of  the  Log  College  (see  Bibliography),  and  the 
several  histories  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

A  protestation  presented  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  June  1,  1741. 
Philadelphia  :  Printed  and  sold  by  B.  Franklin,  1741, 

shows  how  intense  an  opposition  to  the  movement  was  aroused  within  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Franklin  printed  also  instalments  of  WHITEFIELD'S  Journal.     The 
original  account  of  the  Log  College  appears  in  vol.  II.  of 

A  continuation  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Whitefield's  Journal  during  the  Time 
he  was  detained  in  England,  by  the  Embargo.  Philadelphia,  1740. 

FRANKLIN'S  autobiography  has  much  that  bears  upon  the  subject  of  this 
chapter.  It  is  given  in  vol.  I.  of  his  Complete  works  edited  by  John 
Bigelow  (New  York :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1887). 

For  a  full  account  of  Whitefield's  career,  see 

TYERMAN,  REV.  L.  The  life  of  the  Rev.  George  Whitefield.  In  3  ?ols. 
New  York  :  Anson  D.  F.  Randolph  &  Company,  1877. 


106          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  work  of  JONATHAN  BOUCHER  to  which  reference  is  made  is 

A  view  of  the  causes  and  consequences  of  the  American  Revolution ;  in 
thirteen  discourses  preached  in  North  America  between  the  years  1763 
and  1775  :  with  an  historical  preface.  London,  1797- 

The  works  referred  to  which  relate  more  specifically  to  the  history  of 
education,  receive  mention  in  the  Bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 


CHAPTER  VI 
COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS   AND   SCHOLARS 

COLONIAL  society  was  not  yet  democratic.  There  was  much 
in  it  that  pointed  forward  to  democracy,  but  the  leaders 
refused  to  believe  the  signs.  Seventeenth-century  America, 
like  seventeenth-century  England,  presented  well-marked 
social  distinctions  ;  the  people  constituted  a  succession  of 
social  planes.  The  highest  and  the  lowest  were  lacking 
here,  but  the  several  grades  of  higher  and  lower  were  pretty 
sharply  distinguished.  The  great  body  of  the  people  were 
those  known  as  Goodman  or  Goodwife  So-and-so.  Below 
these  were  common  servants  ;  above  were  families  whose 
lords  were  entitled  to  the  designation  "  Mr."  l  At  the  top 
were  the  magistrates  and  ministers.  The  intermediate  ranks 
were  carefully  graded ;  and  seats  were  assigned  in  the  meet- 
ing house  accordingly,  one  pew  being  designated  as  "  first  in 
dignety,  the  next  behind  it  to  be  2d  in  dignety,"  and  so 
on.2  Similar  distinctions  were  observed  in  the  colleges.  At 
Yale,  the  practice  of  arranging  the  names  of  the  students 
in  the  annual  catalogue  according  to  the  rank  of  the  parents 
was  not  discontinued  till  1767 ;  and  at  Harvard  not  till  three 
years  later. 

According  to  Mr.  Dexter's  interesting  monograph  on  this 
subject,  it  appears  that  the  problem  of  "  placing  "  the  several 

1  Of  the  freemen  of  Massachusetts  constituted  before  1649,  one  in  fourteen 
had  the  title  Mr.  Cf.  WEEDEN,  Economic  and  social  history,  L,  p.  419. 

a  Op.  cit.,  I.,  pp.  74-75,  528-530,  699.  The  seating  committee  at  Woburn, 
Mass.,  in  1672,  was  instructed  by  the  town  to  respect  "estate,  office,  and 
age"  in  the  discharge  of  their  function.  At  Stamford,  Conn.,  in  1673,  the 
seating  was  according  to  "dignity,  agge  and  estate."  Id.,  p.  280.  Changes 
in  the  system  of  seating  were  indicative  of  change  in  social  conditions. 


108          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

classes  was  a  perplexing  one  to  the  college  authorities,  and 
became  much  more  so  as  the  eighteenth  century  advanced. 
Each  class  was  placed  late  in  the  freshman  year,  and  such 
placing  continued  unchanged  throughout  the  college  course 
except  as  students  were  occasionally  degraded  by  way  of 
punishment  for  some  irregularity  or  other. 

"  Contrary  perhaps  to  a  prevailing  impression,  there  was  never 
any  disposition  to  exalt  the  ministerial  order  above  laymen  of 
distinction.  .  .  .  Practitioners  of  medicine  had  not  [by  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century]  .  .  .  gained  a  secure  position  as  pro- 
fessional men.  .  .  .  The  legal  profession  had  gained  an  earlier 
and  fuller  recognition.  .  .  .  Next  to  the  three  learned  professions 
ought  to  come  that  of  the  teacher;  but  not  so  in  the  regard  of 
these  college  authorities.  .  .  .  Considerations  of  ancestral  dis- 
tinction, of  family  estate,  of  paternal  position,  and  the  like, 
entered  into  each  case  in  ever-varying  combinations,  precluding 
the  possibility  of  any  cut-and-dried  system." l 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  wealth  came  to  be  a  prominent 
factor  in  the  determining  of  family  rank  ;  but  in  the  earlier 
days,  particularly  in  New  England,  no  badge  of  nobility, 
other  than  civil  office,  was  more  universally  recognized  than 
superior  education  and  ministerial  standing.  If  these  re- 
marks relate  more  particularly  to  New  England,  it  will  be 
remembered  that  in  the  other  colonies  also  definite  grada- 
tions of  social  rank  still  persisted,  and  were  recognized  as  a 
matter  of  course.2 

In  this  state  of  society,  no  public  secondary  school  seems 
to  have  been  even  thought  of  for  the  great  body  of  citizens 
—  the  middle  or  lower  middle  class.  It  was  thought 
desirable  that  all  should  know  how  to  read.  And  a  college 
training  was  needed  by  members  of  the  directive  class.  The 
secondary  school  was  not  a  mean  between  these  extremes, 

*  DEXTER,  Social  distinctions  at  Harvard  and  Yale,  pp.  16-19. 

*  See  the  shrewd  comment  on  the  democratic  practices  common  in  New 
Jersey,  as  contrasted  with  Virginia  customs,  in  FITHIAN'S  Journal  and  letters^ 
p.  285. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      109 

but  rather  an  institution  subsidiary  to  the  college  ;  that  is, 
a  preparatory  school  in  the  narrower  sense.  Promising 
youth,  whatever  their  social  station,  were  encouraged  to  go  to 
school.  But  their  education  was  preparation  for  a  place  in 
an  upper,  that  is,  a  ruling  or  at  least  a  directing,  class. 

The  ecclesiastical  origin  of  our  education  is  recalled  by 
the  fact  that  that  portion  of  the  directive  class  for  which  the 
colleges  and  grammar  schools  were  chiefly  intended  was 
the  ministry  of  the  churches.  The  good  of  the  state  was 
thought  of  in  all  of  these  foundations ;  but  the  thought  of 
the  church  was  uppermost,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  our 
earlier  colleges  would  have  been  founded  at  all,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  desire  to  provide  an  educated  ministry.  Closely 
connected  with  this  desire  was  the  ambition  to  educate  the 
red  natives  of  the  country  in  the  Christian  faith  —  an  ambi- 
tion which  appeared  in  both  whimsical  and  pathetic 
manifestations. 

Some  of  our  novelists,  exercising  the  freedom  that  belongs 
to  art,  have  reconstructed  the  school  life  of  colonial  days 
in  a  way  that  historians  can  only  look  upon  with  wonder 
and  great  admiration.  Mr.  Dempster,  the  Scotch  tutor  of 
George  and  Harry  Warrington,  and  his  successor,  Mr.  Ward, 
whom  Mr.  Whitefield  had  expressly  recommended,  are  as 
much  alive  as  any  colonial  schoolmasters  yet  remaining. 
Miss  Johnston  has  abundant  justification  in  colonial  docu- 
ments for  so  villainous  a  character  as  Bartholomew  Paris, 
in  her  story  of  Audrey.  The  account  of  King  William's 
school  in  Richard  Carvel  is  good  enough  to  be  true ;  but  in 
it  Mr.  Churchill  has  employed  his  own  resources  to  make 
good  a  defect  in  contemporary  records.  David  Dove,  who 
figures  in  the  early  chapters  of  Hugh  Wynne,  was  an  his- 
torical character.  He  held  a  place  of  considerable  impor- 
tance among  our  eighteenth  century  masters,  and  possibly 
deserved  gentler  treatment  than  he  has  received  at  Dr. 
Mitchell's  hands. 

But  we  are  not  wholly  dependent  upon  fiction  for  our 
view  of  colonial  schools  and  masters  ;  and  in  a  few  instances 


110          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

even  the  literary  setting-forth  of  the  career  of  our  old-time 
teachers  will  stand  comparison  with  the  narratives  of  the 
novelists. 

The  schoolmasters  of  the  colonial  period  may  be  roughly 
divided  into  three  classes.  There  were  a  few  men  of 
scholarly  preparation  who  made  teaching  the  work  of  their 
lives,  and  kept  up  the  best  traditions  of  the  free-school 
masters  of  Old  England  —  of  Mulcaster  and  Brinsley  and 
Charles  Hoole.  Then  there  were  young  clergymen,  and 
ministers  of  non-episcopalian  denominations,  recently  from 
college,  who  taught  school  while  waiting  for  a  call  to  the 
pastoral  office.  Finally,  there  was  a  miscellaneous  lot  of 
adventurers,  indented  servants,  educated  rogues,  and  the 
like,  all  either  mentally  or  morally  incompetent,  or  both, 
who  taught  school  only  to  keep  from  starving. 

The  social  standing  of  these  masters  was  variable,  being 
largely  determined  by  their  individual  character.  In  so  far 
as  their  position  can  be  spoken  of  in  general  terms,  it  was 
probably  highest  in  New  England,  where  we  sometimes  find 
them  and  their  wives  assigned  to  very  honorable  places  in 
the  churches.  The  complaint  against  the  schoolmasters  of 
Maryland  as  a  class  has  been  referred  to  already.  But  we 
find  exceptions  in  plenty  both  north  and  south. 

The  head  of  our  long  line  of  really  eminent  masters  is, 
beyond  question,  Ezekiel  Cheever,  and  he  is  one  of  those 
who  have  been  fortunate  in  having  their  praises  worthily 
recorded.  In  his  notable  address  at  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  celebration  of  the  Boston  Latin  School, 
Phillips  Brooks  made  Cheever  and  John  Lovell  stand  respec- 
tively for  the  spirit  of  the  earlier  and  of  the  later  colonial 
period.  Of  these  two  representative  men  the  first-named 
was  born  at  London,  in  1614.  Tradition  represents  him  as 
having  been  a  pupil  at  St.  Paul's  school.  He  was  among 
the  earliest  of  the  New  Haven  colonists,  and  began  teaching 
school  in  the  town  of  New  Haven  within  a  few  months 
after  his  arrival.  A  dozen  years  later,  he  became  master  of 
the  school  at  Ipswich ;  then  of  that  at  Charlestown ;  and  in 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      111 

1670  he  was  called  to  Boston,  and  solemnly  presented  by 
the  governor  of  the  colony  with  the  keys  of  the  Latin  School. 
He  was  master  of  this  school  continuously  for  thirty-eight 
years,  and  died  in  office  at  the  good  old  age  of  ninety-four. 
He  was  buried  from  the  schoolhouse ;  and  Cotton  Mather 
not  only  preached  a  sermon  but  also  wrote  a  poem  to  his 
memory. 

The  poem  is  no  worse  than  the  common  run  of  colonial 
verse,  and  certainly  no  more  pedantic  than  the  author's 
prose.  After  the  inevitable  quotation  from  the  Latin,  by 
way  of  introduction,  it  begins  : 

"  You  that  are  Men,  &  Thoughts  of  Manhood  know, 
Be  Just  now  to  the  Man  that  made  you  so." 

A  few  passages,  some  of  them  well  worn  by  repeated 
quotation,  may  be  given  here.  They  tell  something  of 
Cheever,  but  more,  to  be  sure,  of  Cotton  Mather: 

"  A  mighty  Tribe  of  Well-instructed  Youth 
Tell  what  they  owe  to  him,  and  Tell  with  Truth, 
All  the  Eight  parts  of  Speech  he  taught  to  them 
They  now  Employ  to  Trumpet  his  Esteem. 

Magister  pleas'd  them  well,  because  't  was  he  ; 
They  saw  that  Bonus  did  with  it  agree. 
While  they  said,  Amo,  they  the  Hint  improve 
Him  for  to  make  the  Object  of  their  Love. 
No  Concord  so  Inviolate  they  knew 
As  to  pay  Honours  to  their  Master  due. 
With  Interjections  they  break  off  at  last, 
But,  Ah,  is  all  they  use,  Wo,  and,  Alas!" 

More  follows  in  the  same  vein ;  but  the  task  is  too  great : 

"  Ink  is  too  vile  a  Liquor ;  Liquid  Gold 
Should  fill  the  Pen,  by  which  such  things  are  told." 

The  learning  of  the  master  is  extolled : 

"Were  Grammar  quite  Extinct,  yet  at  his  Brain 
The  Candle  might  have  well  been  lit  again. 
If  Rhefrick  had  been  stript  of  all  her  Pride 
She  from  his  Wardrobe  might  have  been  supply'd." 


112          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Speak  the  name  of  Cheever,  and  Echo  will  straightway 
answer,  Good  Latin.  He  was  a  Christian  Terence : 

"  And  in  our  School  a  Miracle  is  wrought ; 
For  the  Dead  Languages  to  Life  are  brought." 

"  His  Work  he  Lov'd :  Oh  !  had  we  done  the  same ! 
Our  Play-dayes  still  to  him  ungrateful  came. 
And  yet  so  well  our  Work  adjusted  Lay, 
We  came  to  Work,  as  if  we  came  to  Play. 

'T  is  GOBLET'S  pains,  &  CHEEVER'S,  we  must  own, 
That  thou,  New-England,  art  not  Scythia  grown." 

Due  homage  is  paid  to  the  religious  faithfulness  of  the 
master,  and  his  instruction  in  Christian  doctrine : 

"He  taught  us  Lilly,  and  he  Gospel  taught" 

There  is  real  eloquence  mixed  with  the  petty  conceits 
with  which  the  master's  extreme  old  age  is  celebrated : 

"  Come  from  the  Mount,  he  shone  with  ancient  Grace, 
Awful  the  Splendor  of  his  Aged  Face, 
Cloath'd  in  the  Good  Old  Way,  his  Garb  did  wage 
A  War  with  the  Vain  Fashions  of  the  Age. 

He  Liv'd  and  to  vast  Age  no  Illness  knew ; 
Till  Times  Scythe  waiting  for  him  Rusty  grew, 
He  Liv'd  and  Wrought  ;  His  Labors  were  Immense ; 
But  ne'r  Declined  to  Praeter-perfect  Tense. 

So,  Ripe  with  Age,  he  does  invite  the  Hook, 
Which  watchful  does  for  its  large  Harvest  look ; 
Death  gently  cut  the  Stalk,  and  kindly  laid 
Him,  where  our  God  His  Granary  has  made." 

The  language  of  the  sermon,  and  of  "  An  Historical  Intro- 
duction "  printed  with  it,  is  of  a  like  tenor :  "  He  died  .  .  . 
In  the  Ninety  Fourth  Year  of  his  Age ;  after  he  had  been  a 
Skilful,  Painful,  Faithful  Schoolmaster,  for  Seventy  Years; 
And  he  had  the  Singular  Favour  of  Heaven,  that  tho*  he  had 
Usefully  spent  his  Life  among  Children,  yet  he  was  not  be- 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      113 

come  Twice  a  Child"  "  We  generally  concur  in  acknowledg- 
ing that  New-England  has  never  knovm  a  better  [school- 
master]." "  It  was  noted,  that  when  Scholars  came  to  be 
Admitted  into  the  Colledge,  they  who  came  from  the  Ghee- 
verian  Education,  were  generally  the  most  unexceptionable. 
What  Exception  shall  be  made,  Let  it  fall  upon  him,  that  is 
now  speaking  of  it."  "  My  Master  went  thro'  his  Hard  Work 
with  so  much  Delight  in  it,  as  a  Work  for  God  and  Christ, 
and  His  People :  He  so  constantly  Pray'd  with  us  every  Day, 
and  Catechis'd  us  every  Week,  and  let  fall  such  Holy  Counsels 
upon  us ;  He  took  so  many  Occasions,  to  make  Speeches  unto 
us,  that  should  make  us  Afraid  of  Sin,  and  of  incurring  the 
fearful  Judgments  of  God  by  Sin ;  That  I  do  propose  him 
for  Imitation"  "  Out  of  the  School,  he  was  One,  Antiqua 
Fide,  priscis  moribus  ;  A  Christian  of  the  Old  Fashion  :  An 
OLD  NEW  ENGLISH  CHRISTIAN  :  And  I  may  tell  you,  That 
was  as  Venerable  a  Sight,  as  the  World,  since  the  Days  of 
Primitive  Christianity,  has  ever  look'd  upon."  The  master's 
acquaintance  with  the  body  of  divinity  is  mentioned ;  and 
comment  on  his  knowledge  of  the  Scripture  prophecies 
closes  with  the  high  praise  that  he  was  "  A  Sober  Chiliast ! " 

All  this  is  turgid  enough,  no  doubt,  but  who  can  read  it 
without  some  stirring  of  the  heart  ?  This  old  schoolmaster 
served  a  different  age  from  ours,  and  one  that  was  already 
passing  away  when  he  died.  But  he  served  it  faithfully ; 
and  it  was  no  mean  age.  "He  Dyed,"  the  sermon  adds, 
"  mourning  for  the  Quick  Apostasie,  which  he  saw  break- 
ing in  upon  us."  How  much  of  this  is  Cheever  and  how 
much  Mather  it  may  be  hard  to  say.  He  was  "  very  easie 
about  his  own  Eternal  Happiness,  but  full  of  Distress  for  a 
poor  People  here  under  the  Displeasure  of  Heaven,  for 
Former  Iniquities,  he  thought,  as  well  as  Later  Ones." 

Other  New  England  worthies  joined  in  eulogy  of  the 
great  schoolmaster.  Judge  Sewall  wrote  in  that  remarkable 
diary,  of  his  professional  career,  and  added,  "He  has 
Laboured  in  that  Calling,  Skillfully,  diligently,  constantly, 
Religiously,  Seventy  years.  A  Kare  Instance  of  Piety, 


114          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Health,  Strength,  Serviceableness.  The  Wellfare  of  the 
Province  was  much  upon  his  Spirit.  He  abominated 
Perriwiggs."  1 

Governor  Hutchinson  spoke  of  him  as  "venerable  not 
merely  for  his  great  age,  94,  but  for  having  been  the  school- 
master of  most  of  the  principal  gentlemen  in  Boston  who 
were  then  [1708]  upon  the  stage.  He  is  not  the  only  mas- 
ter who  kept  his  lamp  longer  lighted  than  otherwise  it 
would  have  been,  by  a  supply  of  oil  from  his  scholars." 

Some  further  understanding  of  Cheever's  character  may 
be  gathered  from  the  autobiography  of  the  Eev.  John  Bar- 
nard, who  was  one  of  his  pupils.  Barnard  had  become  the 
head  of  his  class  in  the  Latin  school  (about  1692). 
"  Though  my  master  advanced  me,"  he  writes,  "  yet  I  was  a 
very  naughty  boy,  much  given  to  play,  insomuch  that  he  at 
length  openly  declared,  '  you  Barnard,  I  know  you  can  do 
well  enough  if  you  will,  but  you  are  so  full  of  play  that 
you  hinder  your  classmates  from  getting  their  lessons  ;  and 
therefore,  if  any  of  them  cannot  perform  their  duty,  I  shall 
correct  you  for  it.' "  The  threat  was  duly  carried  out.  One 
boy,  out  of  pure  mischief,  repeatedly  got  Barnard  into 
trouble  in  this  way,  until,  failing  of  relief  from  the  master, 
the  unfortunate  youngster  took  the  case  into  his  own  hands, 
and  gave  the  real  culprit  such  a  drubbing  that  he  never 
came  back  to  school. 

We  get  another  glimpse  of  the  master,  too  good  to  be  lost, 
in  this  same  autobiography.  "  I  remember  once,  in  making 
a  piece  of  Latin,  my  master  found  fault  with  the  syntax  of 
one  word,  which  was  not  so  used  by  me  heedlessly,  but 
designedly,  and  therefore  I  told  him  there  was  a  plain  gram- 
mar rule  for  it.  He  angrily  replied,  there  was  no  such  rule. 
I  took  the  grammar  and  showed  the  rule  to  him.  Then  he 

1  Other  good  men  shared  in  the  opposition  to  the  new  fashion  of  wearing 
wigs,  notably  the  Apostle  Eliot.  Cotton  Mather  remarked  of  him  that, 
"  The  Hair  of  them  that  professed  Religion,  long  before  his  Death,  grew  too 
long  for  him  to  swallow ;  and  he  would  express  himself  continually  with  a 
boiling  Zeal  concerning  it."  Magnalia,  p.  180. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      H5 

smilingly  said,  'Thou  art  a  brave  boy;  I  had  forgot  it.' 
And  no  wonder ;  for  he  was  then  above  eighty  years  old." 1 

Late  in  the  eighteenth  century,  President  Stiles  of  Yale 
College  gathered  up  some  fragments  of  information  from  an 
old  man,  the  Kev.  Samuel  Maxwell,  of  Warren,  Ehode  Island, 
who  also  had  been  one  of  Cheever's  pupils.  "  He  told  me  he 
well  knew  the  famous  Grammar  School  Master,  Mr.  Ezekiel 
Cheever  of  Boston,  Author  of  the  Accidence :  that  he  wore  a 
long  white  Beard,  terminating  in  a  point;  that  when  he 
stroked  his  Beard  to  the  point,  it  was  a  sign  for  the  Boys 
to  stand  clear."  2 

Phillips  Brooks,  in  the  oration  already  referred  to,  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that,  in  the  absence  of  any  authentic  like- 
ness, some  artist  would  do  for  Ezekiel  Cheever  what  one 
has  already  done  for  John  Harvard,  so  that  our  thought  of 
him  may  rest  upon  some  noble  expression  of  his  character 
in  stone  or  bronze. 

John  Lovell,  who  was  designated  by  the  great  preacher  as 
representative  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  a  man  of  a 
very  different  sort.  He  wore  a  periwig.  He  had  gone 
through  the  regulation  paces  of  the  regular  Boston  boy: 
through  the  Latin  School,  and  through  Harvard  College. 
His  mastership  of  the  Latin  School  began  in  1734  and 
closed  with  the  outbreak  of  the  Kevolutionary  War. 

It  was  during  this  time  that  the  religious  revolution 
wrought  by  the  Great  Awakening  was  preparing  the  way 
for  political  revolution.  But  John  Lovell  was  of  that  large 
number,  of  comfortable  and  highly  respectable  people,  who 
were  unmoved  by  either  of  these  revolutions.  He  was  of  that 
conservatism  which,  in  its  effort  to  make  no  obeisance  to 
popular  tendencies,  sometimes  leans  backward  and  becomes 
another  sort  of  radicalism.  This  spirit  was  greatly  on  the 
increase  in  the  colonies,  especially  in  the  more  prosperous 

1  BARNARD'S  Autobiography  appears  in  the  Collections  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society,  3d  series,  V.,  pp.  177-243. 

a  Literary  diary  of  Ezra  Stiles  (FRANKLIN  BOWDITCH  DEXTER,  Editor), 
I.,  pp.  227-228. 


116          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

centers.  It  was  in  touch  with  Augustan  England.  Some- 
times it  was  fixedly  and  traditionally  orthodox ;  sometimes 
it  drew  near  to  English  deisin.  In  this  latter  form,  it 
found  a  counterpart  in  the  Enlightenment  of  the  continent 
of  Europe.  On  its  less  noble  side,  it  appeared  as  a  com- 
placent and  immovable  toryism.  John  Lovell  was  a  tory 
of  the  tories.  To  the  boys  he  was  "  Old  Gaffer,"  whatever 
that  may  mean. 

"  Though  a  severe  teacher,  yet  he  was  remarkably  humor- 
ous and  an  agreeable  companion."  Such  is  the  description 
of  him  that  has  come  down  to  us.  Of  the  severity  there 
can  be  little  doubt,  for  it  is  attested  in  trembling  accents 
by  some  of  his  pupils  long  after  they  had  grown  to  man- 
hood. "  Lovell  was  a  tyrant,"  says  one  of  them,  "  and  his 
system  was  one  of  terror.  Trouncing  was  common  in  the 
school.  Dr.  Cooper  was  one  of  his  early  scholars,  and  he 
told  Dr.  Jackson,  the  minister  of  Brookline,  that  he  had 
dreams  of  school  till  he  died  [!].  The  boys  were  so  afraid 
they  could  not  study.  Sam.  Bradford,  afterward  sheriff, 
pronounced  the  P  in  Ptolemy,  and  the  younger  Lovell 
rapped  him  over  the  head  with  a  heavy  ferule."  1 

This  younger  Lovell  was  James,  the  son  of  John,  who 
had  become  assistant  to  his  father  in  the  management  of 
the  school.  He  had  a  son,  also  named  James,  who  was  a 
pupil  in  the  school ;  and  on  one  occasion  grandfather  John 
beat  the  little  James  till  James  the  father  rose  in  his  place 
and  said,  "  Sir,  you  have  flogged  that  boy  enough." 

It  must  have  been  during  the  short  and  rare  vacations  — 
two  in  the  year,  at  election  and  commencement  times  — 
that  John  Lovell  appeared  as  the  humorous  and  agreeable 
companion.  On  those  occasions  he  went  fishing  with  some 
of  his  friends,  and  the  party  "  passed  their  time  pleasantly 
in  telling  funny  stories  and  laughing  very  loudly."  Lovell 
allowed  his  best  boys  to  go  out  into  the  open,  and  culti- 
vate his  garden  for  him.  James  Bowdoin  and  Harrison 
Gray  Otis  received  this  mark  of  distinction.  They  were 

1  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVII.,  p.  79. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      117 

allowed  to  laugh  as  much  as  they  pleased  while  they  tilled. 
Another  school  honor  was  that  of  sawing  the  master's  wood 
and  bottling  his  cider.  It  was  enjoyed  by  those  future 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  John  Hancock 
and  Eobert  Treat  Paine  and  William  Hooper. 

It  would  have  grieved  the  master  to  the  heart  to  know 
that  he  was  bringing  up  young  men  for  such  rebellion.  But 
James  Lovell,  the  son,  was  himself  an  incipient  rebel.  The 
father's  desk  was  at  one  end  of  the  room  and  the  son's  at  the 
other,  so  the  tradition  goes  ;  and,  facing  in  opposite  directions, 
one  taught  the  boys  the  rights  of  the  crown  and  the  other 
the  rights  of  the  people.  On  the  nineteenth  of  April,  1775, 
Harrison  Gray  Otis,  on  his  way  to  school,  was  obliged  to 
make  a  detour  to  avoid  the  line  of  Percy's  brigade,  drawn 
up  for  the  inarch  to  Lexington.  He  got  into  the  school- 
room just  in  time  to  hear  the  words  of  the  master,  "  War 's 
begun  and  school 's  done :  Deponite  libros ;  "  and  then  he 
"ran  home  for  fear  of  the  regulars."  The  following  spring 
John  Lovell,  .with  many  another  loyalist,  sailed  off  to 
Halifax,  out  of  respect  to  Washington's  guns  new-mounted 
on  Dorchester  Heights.1 

These  representative  masters  were  both  professional  teach- 
ers, and  each  gave  long  years  of  service  to  a  single  school. 
The  history  of  the  Hopkins  school  at  Hadley  shows  a  differ- 
ent state  of  affairs.  There  the  teachers  were  mostly  young 
men  just  out  of  college,  and  on  their  way  to  the  ministry ; 
and  they  commonly  remained  with  the  school  for  one  year 
only,  or  even  for  a  shorter  period.2 

If  we  are  to  judge  by  the  wide  educational  influence  exer- 
cised by  his  disciples,  we  must  count  William  Tennent  the 
elder  as  one  of  our  greatest  eighteenth-century  teachers. 
We  know  comparatively  little  about  the  actual  schooling 
given  in  the  Log  College,  or  about  the  characteristics  of  the 

1  The  documentary  material  relating  to  Cheeverand  Lovell  will  be  found 
for  the  most  part  reproduced  in  HASSAM'S  Ezekiel  Cheever  and  JENKS'  Histori- 
cal sketch. 

2  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVII.,  p.  152.    History  of  the  Hopkins  fund  in  H ad- 
ley,  ch.  7. 


118         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

master.  One  who  knew  him  well  said  of  him  that  he  could 
speak  and  converse  in  Latin  with  almost  as  much  facility 
as  in  his  mother  tongue.  He  delivered  at  one  time  "an 
elegant  Latin  oration"  before  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Alexander  adds  that  his  attainments  in  "  science  "  were 
thought  to  be  less  considerable  than  his  linguistic  knowl- 
edge.1 A  young  pedler  appeared  at  the  College  one  day 
and  entered  into  easy  conversation,  in  Latin,  with  Mr. 
Tennent.  It  turned  out  that  this  pedler,  whose  name  was 
Charles  Beatty,  had  received  some  classical  instruction  at 
his  home  in  the  north  of  Ireland  before  emigrating  to 
America.  Mr.  Tennent  quickly  persuaded  him  to  continue 
his  studies  at  the  Log  College.  In  due  time  he  became  an 
able  and  honored  minister,  and  a  trustee  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey. 

This  is  only  one  instance  of  Mr.  Tennent's  success  in  draw- 
ing young  men  of  promise  to  his  school,  and  then  sending 
them  out,  on  fire  with  zeal  for  religion  and  education,  and 
fairly  well  prepared  to  render  a  good  account  of  themselves. 
The  master  was  already  past  middle  life  when  he  came  to 
this  country ;  and  his  Log  College,  established  about  1726, 
was  in  existence  hardly  more  than  twenty  years.  Yet 
among  its  alumni  were  the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  who  estab- 
lished the  Fagg's  Manor  School;  the  Rev.  John  Blair,  who 
succeeded  his  brother,  Samuel,  in  charge  of  this  school,  and 
became  a  professor  at  Princeton ;  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley, 
D.D.,  who  established  a  school  at  Nottingham,  Maryland,  and 
later  became  president  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  Sev- 
eral other  notable  names  might  be  added  to  this  list ;  and 
if  it  were  made  to  include  those  of  a  second  generation  — 
the  pupils  of  Mr.  Tennent's  pupils  —  it  would  show  a  far- 
reaching  and  powerful  educational  influence.2 

Much  of  colonial  schooling  was  got  from  private  teachers 
who  set  up  in  the  business  on  their  own  account.  The  ad- 

1  The  reference,  I  suppose,  is  to  the  philosophical  sciences,  as  logic  and 
metaphysics. 

1  ALEXANDER,  The  Log  College,  passim. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      119 

vertisements  of  such  schools  are  common  enough  in  colonial 
newspapers,  and  some  of  them  are  highly  entertaining,  being 
pretentious  and  bombastic  to  the  last  degree.  The  most  of 
these  school  adventurers  must  have  been  utterly  unworthy. 
The  tutors  in  private  families  often  were  no  better.  It  was 
no  uncommon  thing  for  the  owner  of  a  plantation  to  buy  a 
schoolmaster  for  a  term  of  years  from  the  master  of  some 
incoming  vessel.  But  there  were  many  degrees  of  excellence 
among  these  tutors,  even  such  as  were  redemptioners. 

Philip  Vickers  Fithian,  after  graduating  from  the  college 
of  New  Jersey,  became  private  tutor  in  the  family  of  Robert 
Carter  of  Virginia.  His  diary  and  letters  give  a  vivid  ac- 
count of  the  school  life  on  one  of  the  best  of  the  Virginia 
plantations.  "  I  observe,"  he  says,  "  that  ...  it  has  been 
the  custom  heretofore  to  have  all  their  Tutors,  and  School- 
masters from  Scotland,  tho'  they  begin  to  be  willing  to  em- 
ploy their  own  countrymen."  l 

Clergymen  in  many  instances  undertook,  in  addition  to 
their  ordinary  duties,  the  instruction  of  a  few  boys,  who 
were  received  into  the  pastor's  family  and  given  such  special 
attention  as  the  circumstances  permitted.  Jonathan  Boucher 
is  a  notable  example.  He  was  considered  one  of  the  best 
preachers  of  his  time  in  the  Church  of  England.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  he  went  from  his  English  home  to 
Virginia  as  tutor  in  a  private  family.  He  continued  for 
some  years  in  this  occupation,  evidently  making  for  himself 
a  good  reputation.  Then  he  resolved  to  take  orders,  and  ac- 
cordingly returned  to  England,  where  he  was  ordained  by  the 
Bishop  of  London  in  1762.  Returning  to  America,  he  became 
successively  rector  of  two  or  three  parishes  in  Virginia,  and 
finally  of  St.  Anne's  at  Annapolis.  According  to  his  report, 
Annapolis  was  at  that  time  "  the  genteelest  town  in  North 
America."  During  his  Virginia  pastorates,  he  had  nearly 
thirty  boys  at  a  time  under  his  personal  instruction.  He 
continued  his  teaching  after  his  removal  to  Annapolis, 

1  Journal  and  letters,  p.  58.  Interesting  glimpses  of  the  school  are  given 
on  pp.  50,  277-280,  and  in  numerous  other  passages. 


120          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

and  Joha  Parke  Custis,  the  stepson  of  Washington,  was 
among  the  pupils  who  went  with  him  to  his  new  field. 
An  interesting  correspondence  passed  between  Boucher 
and  Washington  with  reference  to  the  education  of  this 
boy. 

Young  Custis  was  fourteen  years  old  when  Washington 
applied  to  Boucher  to  receive  him.  He  had  been  reading 
Vergil  two  years,  and  had  made  a  beginning  in  the  Greek 
Testament.  He  was  untainted  in  morals  and  manners  ;  and 
since  he  would  inherit  a  large  fortune,  Washington  was 
desirous  of  making  him  "  fit  for  more  useful  purposes  than 
Horse  Kacer."  Boucher  himself  delighted  in  horse  racing, 
but  still  more  he  delighted  in  literary  pursuits.  A  theatre 
was  built  at  Annapolis  during  his  residence  in  the  town, 
and  he  distinguished  himself  by  writing  some  verses  about 
one  of  the  actresses,  as  well  as  a  prologue  or  two.  He  wrote 
also  a  petition  in  verse  in  behalf  of  the  old  church,  which 
was  well  received.  And  he  was  president  of  the  Homony 
Club,  which  was  composed  of  a  few  social  and  literary  men, 
and  was  intended  to  promote  genial  fellowship. 

He  lamented  in  a  letter  to  Washington  that,  though  he 
had  been  teaching  upwards  of  seven  years,  he  could  not 
boast  of  having  brought  up  a  single  scholar.  Washington 
was  requested  to  look  among  his  books  for  a  copy  of  Cicero's  l 
De  officiis,  or  epistles,  and  of  Livy,  doubtless  for  the  use  of 
the  boy.  Jacky  was  not  distinguished  for  scholarship.  He 
seems  to  have  been  a  lovable  youngster,  but  so  susceptible 
to  the  influence  of  his  companions  as  to  cause  no  small 
amount  of  anxiety.  Boucher  believed  that  life  in  the  school 
would  be  good  for  him,  as  enabling  him  to  add  some  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  serpent  to  the  harmlessness  of  the  dove.  At 
one  time  arrangements  were  making  to  send  him  to  Europe 
for  the  advantage  of  travel  with  his  tutor ;  and  Boucher 
laid  before  Washington  his  ideas  of  the  usefulness  of  an 
acquaintance  with  foreign  countries. 

1  In  earlier  notices  we  commonly  read  of  Tully's  works.  Boucher  agrees 
with  our  current  usage  in  writing  instead,  Cicero. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      121 

When  the  boy  had  been  with  Boucher  for  three  years, 
Washington  intimated  to  the  rector  that  no  great  progress 
had  been  made  in  his  studies.  Boucher  replied  that  he  now 
understood  the  principles  of  what  he  had  previously  acquired 
by  rote ;  but  added  that  "  there  is  a  Deal  of  Difference  to  be 
observed  in  ye  Educat*  a  Gentleman,  &  a  mere  scholar."  At 
this  time  the  boy  had  begun  arithmetic  over  again,  and  was 
about  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  French.  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon l  had  said  that  he  ought  to  have  been  put  into  Greek. 
Boucher  admitted  that  he  had  himself  somewhat  neglected 
his  duty  as  tutor,  but  added  the  retort  that  he  had  given 
his  pupil  the  training  suited  to  a  gentleman,  rather  than 
that  of  a  pedant  or  schoolmaster.  It  was  decided  that  the 
boy  should  go  to  college.  There  was  a  conference  on  this 
subject,  and  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  colonial  institu- 
tions were  discussed  in  all  frankness,  with  the  result  that 
Jack  was  sent  to  King's  College  in  New  York. 

Boucher  seems  to  have  been  admitted  to  intimate  relations 
with  the  Washingtons.  But  with  increasing  estrangement 
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country,  their  friend- 
ship cooled ;  for  Boucher  was  an  uncompromising  loyalist, 
and  spoke  up  fearlessly  against  the  rebellious  proceedings  of 
the  colonies.  His  last  sermon  at  Annapolis  was  preached 
with  pistols  on  his  pulpit  cushion,  and  closed  with  the 
words,  "  As  long  as  I  live,  yea,  while  I  have  my  being,  will 
I  proclaim  God  save  the  King."  He  returned  to  England 
in  the  fall  of  1775,  but  before  leaving  America  he  wrote  a 
scathing  letter  to  Washington,  in  which  he  charged  the  Vir- 
ginian, not  with  sharing  in  the  persecution  of  himself,  to  be 
sure,  but  with  having  failed  to  lift  a  manly  voice  against 
such  persecution.2 

We  find  in  this  schoolmaster-clergyman  a  representative 
of  the  better  tory  element,  which  was  driven  from  this 
country  along  with  so  much  that  was  unworthy.  In  Eng- 
land he  was  given  a  vicarage,  which  he  retained  till  his 

1  Doubtless  President  Witherspoon  of  Princeton  College  is  meant 

2  FORD,  Letters  of  Jonathan  Boucher. 


122          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

death  in  1804.  He  was  held  in  much  esteem,  not  only  as 
a  preacher,  but  also  because  of  his  literary,  and  particularly 
his  philological  distinction.  A  poetical  epistle,  addressed  to 
him  on  his  return  from  America,  was  published.  He  pre- 
pared a  Glossary  of  archaic  and  provincial  words,  which 
was  intended  as  a  supplement  to  Johnson's  dictionary.1 
But  of  especial  importance  from  an  American  point  of 
view  was  the  publication  of  thirteen  of  his  American  dis- 
courses, under  the  title,  A  view  of  the  causes  and  conse- 
quences of  the  American  Revolution.  This  volume  was 
issued  in  1797,  and,  curiously  enough,  was  dedicated  to 
George  Washington. 

It  must  not  be  presumed  that  our  schoolmasters  of  the 
time  just  previous  to  the  Eevolution  were  all  tories.  In- 
deed, there  were  among  them  some  of  the  most  ardent  advo- 
cates of  the  American  cause.  Philip  Fithian  was  one  of 
these.  He  became  a  chaplain  in  the  Continental  army  and 
died  in  the  service.  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  who  was  killed  at 
the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  had  been  master  of  the  Koxbury 
Grammar  School.  And  Nathan  Hale,  "the  Martyr  Spy," 
gave  up  his  school  at  New  London,  Connecticut,  to  enlist 
in  the  American  army,  at  the  first  news  of  the  battle  of 
Lexington. 

These  men  were  among  the  most  lovable  and  beloved  of 
our  early  patriots,  and  their  memory  should  be  cherished  in 
our  school  traditions.  Dr.  Eneas  Munson  of  New  Haven 
said  of  Nathan  Hale : 

"  He  was  almost  six  feet  in  height,  perfectly  proportioned,  and 
in  figure  and  deportment  he  was  the  most  manly  man  I  have  ever 
met.  His  chest  was  broad ;  his  muscles  were  firm  ;  his  face  wore  a 
most  benign  expression  ;  his  complexion  was  roseate  ;  his  hair  was 
soft  and  light-brown  in  color,  and  his  speech  was  rather  low,  sweet, 
and  musical.  His  personal  beauty  and  grace  of  manner  were  most 
charming.  Why,  all  the  girls  in  New  Haven  fell  in  love  with  him, 

1  Only  a  portion  of  this  work  was  published,  and  the  manuscript  is  said  to 
have  come  into  the  possession  of  the  proprietors  of  Webster's  dictionary. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      123 

and  wept  tears  of  real  sorrow  when  they  heard  of  his  sad  fate.  In 
dress  he  was  always  neat ;  he  was  quick  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to 
a  being  in  distress,  brute  or  human ;  was  overflowing  with  good 
humor,  and  was  the  idol  of  all  his  acquaintances."  1 

A  brief  note  relating  to  Hale's  characteristics  as  a  teacher 
has  come  down  to  us  from  Samuel  Green,  one  of  his  pupils 
at  New  London : 

"  His  manners  were  engaging  and  genteel ;  his  scholars  all  loved 
him.  While  he  was  not  severe,  there  was  something  determined 
in  the  man,  which  gave  him  a  control  of  the  boys  that  was  remark- 
able. He  had  a  way  of  imparting  his  views  to  others  in  a  simple, 
natural  method,  without  ostentation  or  egotism,  which  is  a  rare 
gift."2 

The  pay  of  colonial  schoolmasters  can  be  adequately  con- 
sidered only  in  a  comprehensive  view  of  colonial  wages,  cur- 
rency, and  prices.  This  is  too  large  a  subject  to  be  treated 
here ;  but  the  story  of  colonial  schools  ought  not  to  be  left 
without  some  notes  upon  it.  In  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  salary  of  the  masters  of  grammar  schools  commonly 
ranged  from  twenty  to  sixty  pounds  per  annum.  Twenty 
pounds  is  so  frequently  mentioned,  that  it  may  almost  be 
regarded  as  the  standard,  or  perhaps  the  minimum  rate, 
especially  in  the  earliest  times.  The  fees  of  the  pupils 
were  sometimes  additional  to  the  salary  fixed  by  the  school 
authorities,  but  more  frequently  included  in  it.  Some  men- 
tion is  made,  also,  of  gifts  which  the  master  might  fairly 
expect  from  his  pupils.  For  these  there  was  abundant 
English  precedent.  Of  more  importance  was  the  fact  that 
a  dwelling  house  was  commonly  provided  for  the  master, 
with  a  garden  plot,  and  sometimes  a  larger  piece  of  land. 
This  was  additional  to  his  regular  stipend.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  we  find  salaries  mounting  sometimes  to  one 
hundred  pounds  a  year. 

1  Quoted  in  APPLETON'S  Cyclopaedia  of  American  biography. 

2  PARTRIDGE,  Nathan  Hale,  p.  49. 


124          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Gold  and  silver  were  scarce  in  the  colonies,  and  in  the 
earlier  days  the  master  was  often  paid  "in  kind."  Mr. 
Dillaway,  in  his  history  of  the  Eoxbury  Grammar  School, 
presents  a  facsimile  of  the  "  covenant "  entered  into  by  the 
feoffees  of  that  school,  in  February,  1668-9,  with  John  Prud- 
den,  schoolmaster.  This  master  was  employed  to  instruct 
the  children  of  the  "  Donors  "  for  one  full  year  "  in  all  scho- 
lasticall,  morall,  and  theologicall  discipline," 

"  In  consideration  whereof  ye  aforesayd  feoffees  (not  enjoyning 
nor  leting  ye  said  Prudden  from  teaching  any  other  children,  pro- 
vided ye  number  thereof  doe  not  hinder  yc  profiting  of  the  fore- 
named  youth)  do  promise  and  engage  (for  the  due  recompence  of 
his  labour)  to  allow  ye  said  John  Prudden  ye  full  and  just  surnme 
of  twenty-five  pounds  :  ye  one  halfe  to  be  payed  on  ye  29  of  Sep- 
tember next  ensuing  ye  date  hereof,  and  the  other  halfe  on  the  25 
of  March  next  ensuing,  i.e.,  in  ye  year  (70),  ye  said  £25  to  be 
payed  by  William  Park  and  Robert  Williams,  their  heirs  and  ad- 
ministrators at  ye  upper-mills  in  Roxberry.  three  quarters  in  Indian 
Corne  or  Peas  and  ye  other  fourth  part  in  Barley,  all  good  and 
merchandable,  at  price  currant  in  ye  countrey  rate,  at  ye  days  of 
payment."  l 

Until  1709,  the  yearly  salary  of  the  teachers  of  the  Had- 
ley  school,  already  mentioned,  was  from  <£30  to  £40,  payable 
in  produce.  After  that  date,  payment  was  made  in  province 
bills,  beginning  at  £26  per  annum,  and  increasing  to  £40  as 
the  money  depreciated  in  value.  Out  of  this  salary  the 
young  schoolmaster  paid  his  board,  which  cost  him  from 
4s.  8d.  to  5s.  a  week  when  his  salary  was  about  £40,  and  3s.  6d. 
to  3s.  9d.  when  the  salary  was  £30  or  less.  It  is  estimated 
that,  after  deducting  the  cost  of  this  item,  there  remained  a 
clear  yearly  income  equivalent  to  from  sixty  to  seventy 
dollars,  counting  six  shillings  to  the  dollar.  The  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Northampton  paid  the  masters  of  her  grammar 
school,  all  educated  men,  the  equivalent  of  eighty  dollars  a 
year  and  board,  down  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution.2 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  30-31. 
.   2  'Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVIL,  p.  152. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS      125 

An  interesting  excerpt  from  the  town  records  of  Hadley 
is  given  in  the  volume  on  The  Hopkins  fund  .grammar  school 
and  academy  in  Hadley : 

"Jan.  22,  1677.  Voted  by  the  town  that  Mr.  Younglove  shall 
have  for  his  teaching  school  the  next  year  the  use  of  the  House 
and  Homestead  belonging  to  the  school  with  twelve  Akars  of  land 
given  by  John  Barnard  and  thirty  pounds  besides  which  shall  be 
raised  by  the  remainder  of  the  school  land  the  scollards  and  the 
Towne. 

"  Voted  by  the  Towne  that  for  the  year  ensuing  all  male  chil- 
dren ffrom  six  years  ould  to  twelve  shall  be  corapellable  to  pay  to 
the  scoole  such  as  goe  after  tenn  shillings  by  the  year  and  they  that 
goe  not  ffive  shillings  by  the  year  and  all  others  above  the  age  ex- 
pressed that  are  found  Illiterate  and  goe  not  to  paie  ffive  Shillings 
by  the  year,  this  order  to  begin  its  date  May  1st  next  ensuing."  * 

In  the  larger  schools,  the  master  was  sometimes  obliged 
to  employ  an  assistant,  or  "  usher,"  at  his  own  expense. 
But  this  burden  came  to  be  borne  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
support  of  the  master  himself.  The  authorities  were  doubt- 
less glad  to  see  their  school  prosper,  and  unwilling  to  allow 
the  teacher  to  be  burdened  with  such  expense  because  of  his 
success  in  attracting  pupils. 

The  number  of  pupils  in  these  schools  varied  greatly. 
^Egidius  Luyck  had  made  a  marked  success  of  the  school  at 
New  Amsterdam  when  he  was  able  to  show  an  attendance 
of  twenty.  One  hundred  was  no  uncommon  nujnber  in  the 
Boston  Latin  School  near  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Near  the  middle  of  that  century,  Josiah  Pierce 
was  teaching  the  Hopkins  Grammar  School  at  Hadley  with 
all  the  way  from  five  to  thirty  pupils  in  attendance.  He 
complained  that  the  most  of  the  parents  let  their  children 
play  about  the  streets  rather  than  send  them  to  school. 

The  enumeration  of  pupils  in  the  Koxbury  school  for  the 
year  1770  is  suggestive.  It  is  given  as  follows  :2 

1  Op.  tit.,  p.  65. 

a  DILLAWAY,  Free  Schoole  in  Roxburie,  p.  66. 


126         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

SCHOLARS. 

Latin 9 

Cypherers 20 

Writers 17 

Testament 10 

Psalter 10 

Spellers 19 

85 

The  schools  were  attended  by  boys  only,  and  these  came 
for  the  most  part  from  the  more  prosperous  families  and 
those  highest  in  social  distinction.  But  this  remark  must 
be  taken  with  many  qualifications.  Men  of  wealth,  espe- 
cially at  the  south,  often  employed  private  tutors,  as  we 
have  seen,  instead  of  sending  their  boys  to  a  public  school. 
On  the  other  hand,  much  care  was  taken  to  give  promising 
sons  of  poor  parents  a  chance.  There  was  no  portion  of  the 
community  that  held  learning  in  greater  esteem  than  those 
families  in  which  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  send  the 
whole  troop  of  sons  to  a  higher  school,  and  one  was  elected 
to  this  distinction  as  representative  of  all. 

The  chosen  son  was  sent  to  school  as  one  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  God.  There  was  a  thought  of  old  Hebrew  prece- 
dents. Sometimes  the  eldest  was  taken,  because  Jehovah 
had  claimed  all  first-born  of  men  and  of  animals  as  pecu- 
liarly his  own.  Or  if  the  eldest  were  a  dullard  or  otherwise 
unworthy,  another  went  in  his  stead,  as  the  birthright  was 
given  unto  the  sons  of  Joseph,  in  place  of  Keuben.  Some- 
times, too,  in  the  large  families  of  that  day,  the  one  dedi- 
cated was  given  on  the  principle  of  the  tithe.  So  the 
father  of  Benjamin  Franklin  set  apart  the  young  Benjamin 
for  the  ministry,  and  sent  him  to  the  Latin  school,  as  the 
tenth  of  his  sons. 

The  selective  process  was  only  begun  when  the  boy  was 
sent  to  the  grammar  school.  The  more  competent  masters 
were  mighty  winnowers,  who  rendered  the  community  a 
noble  service  in  finding  possible  scholars,  and  sending  them 
on  toward  higher  things.  Ian  Maclaren  has  told  us  how 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLMASTERS  AND  SCHOLARS     127 

it  was  done  in  Scotland,  in  his  tale  of  the  old  Dominie  who 
"  had  an  unerring  scent  for  '  pairts '  in  his  laddies."  "  It 
was  Latin  Domsie  hunted  for  as  for  fine  gold,  and  when  he 
found  the  smack  of  it  in  a  lad  he  rejoiced  openly.  He 
counted  it  a  day  in  his  life  when  he  kn'ew  certainly  that 
he  had  hit  on  another  scholar."  New  England  was  in  many 
ways  like  Scotland ;  and  Scotch  masters  became  plentiful  in 
our  middle  and  southern  colonies.  It  was  no  less  true  here 
than  in  Drumtochty  that  when  such  a  boy  had  been  dis- 
covered "his  brothers  and  sisters  would  give  their  wages, 
and  the  family  would  live  on  skim  milk  and  oat  cake  [or 
their  colonial  equivalents]  to  let  him  have  his  chance." 

NOTE 

The  works  newly  referred  to  in  this  chapter  either  belong  distinctly  to 
the  literature  of  American  educational  history,  and  are  entered  accordingly 
in  our  general  bibliography ;  or  are  well-known  works  of  general  literature, 
which  call  for  no  further  mention  than  appears  in  the  foot-note  citations. 


CHAPTER   VII 
COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  AND  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

THE  studies  of  the  grammar  schools  were  necessarily  deter- 
mined by  the  relation  of  those  schools  to  the  colleges. 
They  taught  such  subjects  as  entered  into  the  college  admis- 
sion requirements.  These  requirements  at  Harvard  College 
appear  as  follows  in  that  early  apology  for  Massachusetts 
Bay  Colony,  the  New  England  First  Fruits:  "When  any 
Scholar  is  able  to  understand  Tully,  or  such  like  classicall 
Latine  Author  extempore,  and  make  and  speake  true  Latine 
in  Verse  and  Prose,  suo  ut  aiunt  Marte ;  And  decline  per- 
fectly the  Paradigm's  of  Nounes,  and  Verbes  in  the  Greek 
tongue :  Let  him  then  and  not  before  be  capable  of  admission 
into  theColledge."1 

The  laws  for  Harvard  College  drawn  up  in  1734  contain 
the  following  prescription  :  "  Whoever  upon  examination  by 
the  President,  and  two  at  least  of  the  Tutors,  shall  be  found 
able  extempore  to  read,  construe,  and  parse  Tully,  Virgil,  or 
such  like  common  classical  Latin  authors,  and  to  write  true 
Latin  in  prose,  and  to  be  skilled  in  making  Latin  verse,  or 
at  least  in  the  rules  of  Prosodia,  and  to  read,  construe,  and 
parse  ordinary  Greek,  as  in  the  New  Testament,  Isocrates, 
or  such  like,  and  decline  the  paradigms  of  Greek  nouns 
and  verbs,  having  withal  good  testimony  of  his  past  blarne- 

1  The  Latin  text  of  this  rule  is  given  by  Cotton  Mather  as  follows:  "Cui- 
cunque  fuerit  peritia  legendi  Ciceronem,  aut  quemvis  alium  ejusmodi  classi- 
cum  autorem  ex  tern  pore,  et  congrue  loquendi  ac  scribendi  Latine  facultas, 
oratione  tarn  soluta  quam  ligata,  suo  (ut  aiunt)  raarte,  et  ad  unguem  inflectendi 
Graecorum  nominum,  et  verborum  paradigmata  ;  hie  admissionem  in  collegium 
jure  potest  expectare  ;  quicunque  vero  destitutus  fuerit  hac  peritia,  admis- 
sionem sibi  neutiquam  vindicet."  Magnolia,  B.  IV.  pp.  132-134,  quoted  in 
PEIRCE,  History  of  Harvard  University,  Appendix,  pp.  48-49. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  129 


behaviour,  shall  be  looked  upon  as  qualified  for  admis- 
sion into  Harvard  College."  1  The  most  noticeable  change 
'here  is  the  addition  of  Vergil  and  of  a  Greek  text. 

Yale  College  was  governed  for  some  years  after  its  found- 
ing by  the  Harvard  laws.  In  1745  the  first  complete 
body  of  laws  drawn  up  for  the  use  of  the  younger  institution 
was  adopted.  The  requirements  for  admission  were  then 
stated  as  follows :  "  That  none  may  expect  to  be  admitted 
into  this  College  unless  upon  Examination  of  the  President 
and  Tutors,  They  shall  be  found  able  Extempore  to  Eead, 
Construe  and  Parce  Tully,  Virgil  and  the  Greek  Testament ; 
and  to  write  True  Latin  in  Prose  and  to  understand  the 
Rules  of  Prosodia,  and  Common  Arithmetic,  and  Shall  bring 
Sufficient  Testimony  of  his  Blameless  and  inoffensive  Life."  a 
Here  the  addition  of  arithmetic  is  significant. 

The  requirements  prescribed  by  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
in  1748  are  of  the  same  general  tenor;  but  it  was  not  till 
1760  that  candidates  for  admission  at  Princeton  were 
required  to  "  understand  the  principal  rules  of  vulgar  arith- 
metic." 8 

At  William  and  Mary  College,  the  only  entrance  exam- 
ination prescribed  in  the  statutes  adopted  in  1727,  was  that 
of  candidates  for  foundation  scholarships,  and  it  was  intended 
only  to  discover  "  whether  they  have  made  due  Progress  in 
their  Latin  and  Greek."  It  was  particularly  enjoined  that 
"  no  Blockhead  or  lazy  Fellow  in  his  Studies  be  elected." 

1  PEIRCE,  History  of  Harvard  University,  Appendix,  p.  125. 

The  diary  of  Dr.  Holyoke  gives  an  account  of  an  entrance  examination  held 
in  1742.  Four  boys  were  examined  by  the  president  and  three  tutors,  as 
follows  :  "Tutors,  3d  Jlneid,  15  lines,  Presi'dt,  2d  JEneid,  24  lines,  Virgil.  — 
Tutors,  3d  Catiline,  Presid't,  2d  Catiline,  Tully.  —  Tutors,  12th  Luke,  Presid't, 
25th  Matthew,  Greek  Testament."  The  following  themes  were  then  given 
out :  "Sapientia  praestat  viribus,"  "Labor  improbus  omnia  vincit,"  "Semper 
avarus  eget."  Young  Holyoke  finished  his  theme  six  days  later.  Op.  cit., 
p.  238,  foot-note. 

2  BKOOME,  E.  C.,  A  historical  and  critical  discussion  of  college  admission 
requirements  (Col.  Univ.  Contribs.,  v.  10,  DOS.  3-4,  April,  1903),  p.  30. 

»  MACLKAN,  History  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  pp.  132-133,  272. 

9 


130         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  regulations  for  the  grammar  school  connected  with  the 
college  give  us  a  little  additional  information,  but  not  much : 

"  Let  the  Latin  and  Greek  Tongues  be  well  taught.  We  assign 
Four  Years  to  the  Latin,  and  Two  to  the  Greek.  As  for  Rudi- 
ments  and  Grammars,  and  Classick  Authors  of  each  Tongue,  let 
them  teach  the  same  Books,  which  by  Law  or  Custom  are  used 
in  the  Schools  of  England.  Nevertheless,  we  allow  the  School- 
master the  liberty,  if  he  has  any  observations  on  the  Latin  or 
Greek  Grammars,  or  any  of  the  Authors  that  are  taught  in  his 
School,  that  with  the  Approbation  of  the  President,  he  may  dictate 
them  to  the  Scholars.  Let  the  Master  take  special  Care,  that  if 
the  Author  is  never  so  well  approved  on  other  Accounts,  he  teach 
no  such  Part  of  him  to  his  Scholars,  as  insinuates  any  Thing 
against  Religion  or  good  Morals.  And  because  nothing  contributes 
so  much  to  the  Learning  of  Languages,  as  dayly  Dialogues,  and 
familiar  Speaking  together,  in  the  Language  they  are  learning ;  let 
the  Master  therefore  take  Care  that  out  of  the  Colloquies  of  Corde- 
rius  and  Erasmus,  and  Others,  who  have  employed  their  Labours 
this  Way,  the  Scholars  may  learn  aptly  to  express  their  Meaning 
to  each  other/'  l 

Not  much  of  detailed  information  has  come  to  light  re- 
specting the  sequence  of  exercises  in  the  actual  course  of 
school  instruction.  It  seems  probable  that  there  was  but 
little  variation  for  several  generations  from  the  traditional 
course  of  the  grammar  schools  of  Old  England. 

From  the  allusions  and  more  direct  testimony  of  Cotton 
Mather  and  John  Barnard,  we  learn  that  in  the  days  of 
Ezekiel  Cheever,  the  master's  Accidence  Was  used  by  begin- 
ners in  the  Boston  Latin  School,  and  that  it  was  followed 
by  Lilly's  grammar.  The  text  authorized  and  prescribed  in 
England  is  doubtless  referred  to  in  the  latter  designation. 
^Esop's  Fables,  the  Colloquies  of  Corderius,  the  jfflneid, 
Cicero's  De  officiis  and  orations  (Pro  Archiapoeta  being  parti- 
cularly mentioned),  Cato,  and  Ovid's  Metamorphoses  were 
read.  An  exercise  in  turning  one  of  the  fables  into  verse  is 
referred  to. 

1  Charter  and  statutes  of  the  College  of  Willam  and  Mary. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  131 


We  have  a  somewhat  more  particular  account  of  the 
studies  at  the  same  school  in  the  time  of  Master  Lovell,  a 
few  years  before  the  Revolution.1  The  only  requirement 
for  admission  at  that  time  was  the  ability  to  read  well ; 
but  in  the  private  school  where  the  small  boys  learned  to 
read,  they  were  also  taught  to  write,  and  were  introduced  to 
English  grammar  through  the  medium  of  Dilworth's  speller. 
Even  after  he  had  been  admitted  to  the  Latin  school,  at  the 
age  of  seven,  the  boy  whose  recollections  are  the  basis  of 
this  account  was  sent  to  a  private  writing  school  from  eleven 
to  twelve  each  forenoon  for  three  years,  where  he  did  noth- 
ing but  write ;  and  if  his  memoranda  are  correctly  inter- 
preted, he  went  during  the  same  period,  from  three  o'clock 
to  five  each  afternoon  to  a  public  English  school,  in  which 
reading  and  writing  were  taught  in  the  same  room,  to  both 
boys  and  girls,  from  seven  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  In  the 
school  last  named,  the  New  England  Primer  was  used,  and 
Dilworth's  spelling  book,  with  the  Bible  as  the  only  reading 
book.  The  master  set  sums  for  his  pupils  in  a  manuscript 
book,  but  went  no  further  than  the  rule  of  three.  During  a 
part  of  this  boy's  school  days,  English  grammar  and  geog- 
raphy were  taught  in  only  one  school  in  Boston,  and  that 
was  a  private  venture.  He  never  saw  a  map  in  those  years 
of  schooling,  except  one  that  he  did  not  understand,  in  an 
edition  of  Caesar  ;  and  Lowth's  English  grammar  was  studied 
by  his  class  in  college. 

These  notes  throw  light  on  the  studies  of  the  Latin  school 
mainly  by  showing  what  it  did  not  teach.  But  information 
of  a  more  positive  sort  follows.  In  the  Latin  school  itself, 
the  boys  studied  Latin  from  eight  o'clock  to  eleven  in  the 

1  Schools  of  the  olden  time  in  Boston.  Article  in  The  Common  School 
Journal,  XII.,  pp.  311-315,  October  15,  1850.  The  reminiscences  were 
"found  among  the  papers  of  an  eminent  clergyman,  who  was  educated  in 
Boston,  just  before  the  Revolution."  It  does  not  appear  why  the  clergyman's 
name  is  withheld.  The  editor,  Mr.  Wm.  B.  Fowle,  adds  notes  from  his  own 
recollections.  These  reminiscences  are  reproduced  in  the  Am.  Journ.  Ed., . 
XIII.,  pp.  745-747,  and  XXVIL,  pp.  79-80.  The  reference  given  with  the 
latter  insertion  is  incorrect 


132          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

forenoon,  and  from  one  in  the  afternoon  till  dark.  They  be- 
gan with  Cheever's  Latin  Accidence,  which  was  followed  by 
Ward's  Lilly's  Latin  grammar.  The  reading  consisted  of 
^Esop,  with  a  translation  ;  Eutropius,  also  with  a  translation  ; 
Corderius,  Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  Vergil's  Georgics  and  jfineid, 
Caesar,  and  Cicero.  Of  these,  Caesar  and  the  Georgics  seem 
to  have  been  less  commonly  used  in  grammar  schools  than 
the  other  works  mentioned.  In  the  sixth  year  of  the  course, 
the  boy  was  half  through  Vergil.  The  master  permitted  the 
reading  of  such  translations  of  Vergil  as  Trappe's  and  Dry- 
den's.  Composition  was  begun,  apparently,  at  about  the 
same  time  with  the  reading  of  ^Esop  or  of  Eutropius,  and 
Clarke's  Introduction  to  writing  Latin  was  the  first  text-book 
used.  Near  the  end  of  the  course,  Horace  was  read,  and 
Latin  verses  were  composed  with  the  help  of  the  Gradus  ad 
Parnassum. 

One  or  two  additional  items  appear  in  the  recollections  of 
Harrison  Gray  Otis,  United  States  senator,  who  entered  the 
Latin  school  in  1773.  "The  school,"  he  says,  "was  divided 
into  seven  classes.  A  separate  bench  or  form  was  allotted 
to  each,  besides  a  skipping  form,  appropriated  for  a  few  boys 
who  were  intended  to  be  pushed  forward  one  year  in  ad- 
vance. The  books  studied  the  first  year  were  Cheever's 
Accidence,  a  small  Nomenclature  [Nomenclator  ?  ] ,  and 
Corderius'  Colloquies.  The  second  year,  Aesop's  Fables,  and 
towards  the  close  of  it,  Eutropius  and  Ward's  Lilly's  Gram- 
mar. The  third  year  Eutropius  and  Grammar  continued, 
and  a  book  commenced  called  Clarke's  Introduction.  In 
the  fourth  year,  the  fourth  form,  as  well  as  the  fifth  and 
sixth,  being  furnished  with  desks,  commenced  'making 
Latin,'  as  the  phrase  was,  and  to  the  books  used  by  the  third 
form  Caesar's  Commentaries  were  added.  After  this  were 
read  in  succession  by  the  three  upper  classes,  Tully's  Ora- 
tions, the  first  books  of  the  Aeneid,  and  the  highest  classes 
dipped  into  Xenophon  and  Homer.  School  opened  at  7  in 
summer  and  8  in  winter,  A.  M.,  and  at  1  P.  M.  throughout 
the  year.  It  was  ended  at  11  A.  M.  and  5  p.  M.,  at  which 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  133 

hours  the  greater  part  went  to  writing-school  for  an  hour  at 
a  time  —  but  a  portion  remained  and  took  lessons^in  writing 
of  'Master  James,'  son  of  the  Preceptor,  and  some  young 
girls  then  came  in  to  school."  l 

Latin  was  apparently  three-quarters  of  the  curriculum  in 
the  most  of  the  grammar  schools,  or  more  likely  nine-tenths 
of  it,  or  nineteen-tweutieths.  Of  the  instruction  in  Greek, 
we  get  some  hint  in  the  "  eminent  clergyman's "  recollec- 
tions of  the  Boston  Latin  School,  referred  to  above.  The 
boy  who  was  half  through  Vergil  in  the  sixth  year  of  his 
course,  began  at  that  time  the  study  of  Ward's  Greek  gram- 
mar. After  this  came  the  reading  of  the  Greek  Testament, 
in  connection  with  which  the  boys  were  allowed  to  use 
Beza's  Latin  translation.  This  was  followed  with  five  or 
six  books  of  Homer's  Iliad,  accompanied  by  Clarke's  transla- 
tion with  notes,  and  that  completed  the  course  in  Greek. 

This  boy's  Latin-School  course  must  have  been  alto- 
gether about  seven  years  in  length.  He  entered  college  at 
the  age  of  fourteen  years  and  three  months.  There  he  found 
that  in  Latin  and  Greek  he  was  equal  to  the  best  in  the 
senior  class.  Sallust  and  Xenophon  were  the  only  authors 
read  in  college  that  he  had  not  already  studied. 

No  mention  is  made  in  these  recollections  of  any  studies 
in  the  Latin  school  other  than  those  in  Latin  and  Greek, 
with  the  single  exception  that  the  student,  in  the  sixth  year, 
"  for  the  first  time  attempted  English  composition,  by  trans- 
lating Caesar's  Commentaries."  It  is  evident,  however,  that 
the  studies  of  such  a  school  were  not  so  exclusively  formal 
and  so  barren  of  ideas  as  they  are  sometimes  represented. 
The  authors  read  were  selected,  in  part  at  least,  with  a  view 
to  the  content  of  their  works.  Their  moral  worth  was  a 
prime  consideration.  But  in  the  reading  of  Eutropius  the 
boys  got  a  fair  introduction  to  Koman  history.  Yet  this 
again  depended  largely  upon  the  skill  of  the  teacher;  for 
many  a  school-boy  might  construe  a  Latin  author  faithfully 

i  JENKS,  Historical  sketch,  p.  36. 


134          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

without  having  in  the  end  any  idea  of   what  that  author 
had  said. 

Grammar  school  masters  in  the  colonies,  like  their  brethren 
in  England,  raised  their  voice  against  the  demand  that  they 
should  teach  little  children  their  ABC.  Stringent  provis- 
ions were  sometimes  adopted  to  protect  them  against  this 
imposition.  Yet  all  but  the  best  of  these  free  schools 
might  be  found  slipping  back,  whenever  there  was  any  re- 
laxation of  scholarly  ambition ;  so  that  many  of  them  must 
have  been  in  fact,  during  a  large  part  of  their  career,  mere 
reading  schools  which  gave  a  smattering  of  Latin  to  an 
occasional  promising  pupil. 

The  studies  of  the  writing-arithmetic  side  of  education, 
too,  kept  working  over  into  the  sacred  enclosure.  Some- 
times the  grammar  master  gave  a  little  instruction  of  this 
sort;  and  sometimes  he  gave  more,  and  openly  advertised 
the  fact.  Sometimes  a  special  teacher  of  these  subjects  was 
regularly  attached  to  the  school.  The  eighteenth  century 
gave  more  and  more  countenance  to  this  innovation,  partly 
because  of  the  growing  influence  of  the  commercial  class, 
and  partly,  we  may  believe,  because  of  some  increase  of  hos- 
pitality toward  studies  not  distinguished  by  tradition. 

The  new  studies  so  admitted  were  of  a  commercial  and 
mathematical  sort:  arithmetic  and  merchants'  accounts; 
geometry,  navigation,  and  surveying ;  and  some  closely  re- 
lated subjects.  The  enlargement  of  commercial  operations, 
the  growth  of  American  shipping,  particularly  that  engaged 
in  the  whaling  industry,  and  the  rapid  extension  of  the  zone 
of  regular  settlements,  had  much  to  do  with  the  demand  for 
studies  such  as  these.  Of  course  such  studies,  previous  to 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  had  no  connection 
with  preparation  for  college.  They  represented  the  intrusion 
of  a  different  view  of  the  function  of  the  school.  They 
smacked  of  trade.  The  notion  that  they  might  have  some 
sort  of  educational  value  in  and  of  themselves,  was  not  then 
abroad.  Education  in  its  several  aspects  was  viewed  as 
something  institutional  and  practical.  It  was  not  for  the 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  135 

perfecting  of  human  character,  but  for  the  training  up  of 
men  to  some  sort  of  efficiency  and  public  usefulness.  The 
studies  of  the  writing-mathematics  group  were  not  dis- 
counted because  of  their  "  practical "  character,  but  because 
they  were  thought  to  minister  to  a  lower  and  more  private 
use  than  did  the  regular  studies  of  the  Latin  school. 

There  was,  however,  one  side  of  instruction  which  took 
account  of  the  improvement  of  personal  character  for  its 
own  sake,  and  that  was  the  inculcation  of  religious  doctrine 
and  the  improvement  of  manners.  Moral  instruction  was 
rarely  prescribed  as  such,  though  Cato's  Distichs  supplied 
a  compendium  of  moral  precepts.  For  the  rest,  religion 
and  manners  covered  practically  the  whole  field.  The 
doctrines  of  religion  were  all-important.  The  trouble- 
some question  of  the  relation  of  religion  to  morals  had  to  be 
considered,  to  be  sure,  in  the  pulpit  if  not  in  the  school. 
The  Calvinistic  communions,  with  their  doctrine  of  a  pre- 
destination that  had  nothing  to  do  with  moral  considera- 
tions, were  continually  on  their  guard  against  the  dangers  of 
antinomianism ;  and  how  much  of  later  American  theology 
has  been  concerned  with  adjustments  between  the  doctrine 
of  salvation  and  the  large  human  sense  of  right  and  wrong  ! 

The  subject  matter  of  instruction  in  this  domain  was  the 
catechism  and  reports  of  the  sermons  which  the  pupils  were 
required  to  hear  on  Sundays  and  special  occasions.  In- 
struction in  manners  was  immediately  practical.  In  the 
early  Quaker  scheme  of  education  there  was  much  insist- 
ence on  imparting  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  land. 
This  sort  of  teaching,  so  strangely  neglected  in  our  own 
day,  received  but  little  notice  in  other  colonial  schemes  of 
education.  The  ability  to  read  and  understand  the  "  capital 
laws  "  of  the  country  was,  however,  one  object  proposed  in 
the  educational  legislation  of  Massachusetts  in  1642  and  in 
that  of  Connecticut  in  1650. 

We  have  the  text  of  the  rules  adopted  for  two  or  three  of 
our  earlier  grammar  schools,  and  are  able  to  get  from  them 
some  idea  of  the  ordinary  working  of  those  institutions. 


136          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

When  the  first  school  committee  was  appointed  for  the 
oversight  of  the  town  school  of  Dorchester,  Massachusetts, 
in  1645,  certain  rules  and  orders  were  adopted  in  town 
meeting  for  their  guidance.  School  hours  were  fixed  as 
follows  :  From  March  1  to  September  30,  from  seven  in  the 
morning  to  five  in  the  afternoon ;  for  the  remainder  of  the 
year,  from  eight  o'clock  to  four.  An  intermission  was  pro- 
vided for,  from  eleven  to  one  every  day ;  except  that  on  the 
second  day  of  the  week,  from  twelve  to  one,  there  should  be 
a  public  examination  of  the  scholars  in  what  they  had  learned 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  an  inquiry  into  their  conduct  on  that 
day.  The  schoolmaster  was  required  to  instruct  such  as 
were  sent  to  him,  whether  their  parents  were  rich  or  poor ; 
and  his  instruction  should  be  not  only  in  "  humane  learning 
and  good  literature,"  but  in  "  good  manners  and  dutiful  be- 
havior towards  all."  Every  day  in  the  week  there  should 
be  morning  and  evening  prayer,  and  at  two  o'clock  the 
scholars  should  be  examined  in  the  catechism. 

The  last  and  longest  rule  related  to  the  correction  of 
pupils :  "  9thly.  And  because  the  rod  of  correction  is  an 
ordinance  of  God  necessary  sometimes  to  be  dispensed  unto 
children,  but  such  as  may  easily  be  abused  by  overmuch 
severity  and  rigor  on  the  one  hand,  or  by  overmuch  indul- 
gence and  lenity  on  the  other,"  the  schoolmaster  should 
have  authority  to  minister  correction  without  respect  of 
persons,  and  should  not  be  hindered  in  the  exercise  of  that 
authority.  Nevertheless,  parents  who  should  think  the 
master  too  severe  might  expostulate  with  him,  and  if  still 
dissatisfied  might  appeal  to  the  "  wardens  "  (school  commit- 
tee) ;  and  the  wardens  were  empowered  in  such  a  case  either 
to  dismiss  the  children  of  such  parents  from  the  school,  or 
if  the  complaint  seemed  well  founded,  to  propose  to  the  in- 
habitants that  the  master  be  discharged.  A  similar  proposal 
might  be  presented  by  the  wardens  if  the  master  were  found 
to  be  too  lenient  or  guilty  of  "  any  other  great  neglect  of 
duty."  For  the  rest,  the  wardens  were  authorized  to  direct 
the  affairs  of  the  school  in  such  manner  as  they  should  judge 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  137 

"  most  conducible  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  training  up 
of  the  children  of  the  town  in  religion,  learning,  and 
civility."  1 

The  rules  for  the  Hopkins  Grammar  School  at  New 
Haven  (1684)  prescribed  still  more  terrific  school  hours  — 
from  six  in  the  morning  to  four  in  the  afternoon  during  the 
winter  months,  extended  to  five  in  the  afternoon  during 
the  summer ;  with  a  daily  intermission  from  eleven  to  one. 
The  boys  were  to  be  examined  Monday  mornings  upon  the 
Sunday  sermons ;  and  from  one  to  three  o'clock  of  Saturday 
afternoons  was  to  "  be  improved  by  ye  Mr  in  Catechizing  of  his 
Schollars  y*  are  Capeable."  All  boys  from  the  county  of  New 
Haven  should  be  instructed  by  the  master  "  upon  his  sallary 
accompt  only,  otherwise  Gratis." 

The  daily  routine  in  this  school  began  with  a  short  prayer, 
after  which  "  the  Master  shall  Assigne  to  every  of  his  Schol- 
lars theire  places  of  Sitting  according  to  theire  degrees  of 
learning."  Then,  "  having  theire  Parts,  or  Lessons  appointed 
them,"  the  unfortunate  youngsters  were  required  to  "  Keepe 
theire  Seats,  &  stir  not  out  of  Dores,"  except  as  the  master 
might  give  leave  to  one  or  two  at  a  time.  The  strict  in- 
junctions against  fighting,  quarrelling,  calling  bad  names, 
and  the  like,  is  suggestive  of  disorders  which  the  masters 
had  to  contend  with.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  occa- 
sional outbreaks  were  the  saving  of  youthful  constitutions, 
which  might  otherwise  have  gone  to  rack  and  ruin  for  sheer 
want  of  change  and  exercise.  Monitors  were  appointed  to 
keep  track  of  delinquencies,  and  at  appointed  times  there  was 
a  clearing  off  of  scores.  Truancy  and  tardiness  are  among 
the  faults  provided  against.  One  breathes  more  freely  at 
the  thought  of  out-door  air  called  up  by  the  mention  of 
these  misdemeanors.  The  master  was  charged  to  "give 
them  due  Correccion  to  ye  degree  of  ye  offence.  And  y* 
all  Correccions  be  wth  Moderacion." 2 

When  Daniel  Munson  was  engaged  as  teacher  of  the 

i  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVIL,  pp.  106-107. 
*  Id.,  XXVIIL,  p.  303. 


138          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Hopkins  School  in  1729,  it  was  agreed  that  he  should 
"keep  the  gramer  scholl  .  .  .  about  seven  hours  in  the 
day  in  the  winter  season  and  about  eight  hours  in  the 
summer  season  in  each  day  and  not  to  exceed  twelve 
play  dayes  in  the  year."1 

The  code  of  regulations  for  the  grammar  school  connected 
with  William  and  Mary  College  has  been  referred  to.  The 
following  paragraph  from  that  document  should  be  added : 

"  Special  care  likewise  must  be  taken  of  their  Morals,  that  none 
of  the  Scholars  presume  to  tell  a  Lie,  or  Curse  or  Swear,  or  to  take 
or  do  any  Thing  obscene,  or  Quarrel  and  Fight,  or  play  at  Cards  or 
Dice,  or  set  in  to  Drinking,  or  do  any  Thing  else  that  is  contrary 
to  good  Manners.  And  that  all  such  Faults  may  be  so  much  the 
more. easily  detected,  the  Master  shall  chuse  some  of  the  most 
trusty  Scholars  both  for  Publick  and  Clandestine  Observators,  to 
give  him  an  Account  of  all  such  Transgressions,  and  according  to 
the  degrees  of  heynousness  of  the  Crime,  let  the  Discipline  be 
used  without  Respect  of  Persons." 

Boy  life  in  those  old  schools  must  have  been  very  different 
from  that  which  we  see  in  the  secondary  schools  of  our 
day.  The  boys  were  younger,  to  begin  with.  At  the  age 
represented  by  our  high  schools,  a  colonial  boy  would  be  in 
college,  or  have  finished  his  schooling  altogether.  Such 
youngsters  could  not  be  expected  to  form  clubs  and  edit 
papers  and  engage  in  interscholastic  athletics.  Not  only 
their  youth,  but  the  habits  and  notions  of  the  period  were 
against  it.  Besides,  nearly  all  of  the  good  boy-hours  in 
the  whole  year  must  be  passed  in  the  school  room  under 
the  eye  of  the  master.  The  main  hope  for  anything  like  a 
good  boy-time  was  in  playing  hookey  or  playing  in  school. 

In  the  few  hours  that  could  be  given  to  out-door  sports, 
they  had  skating  and  coasting2  in  the  winter,  and  in 
summer  swimming,  and  a  variety  of  games,  including  some 

1  BACON,  Hopkins  Grammar  School,  p.  57. 

2  A  contemporary  account  of  the  famous  interview  of  the  Boston  Latin 
School  boys  with  General  Haldimand  (not  General  Gage)  in  re  the  injury  to 
their  coast,  is  given  in  MR.  JENKS'  Historical  sketch,  p.  40. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  139 

•  with  ball  and  bat  —  remote  forerunners  of  base-ball 
Samuel  Moody,  the  master  of  the  Dummer  School,  paid 
great  attention  to  the  physical  exercise  of  his  boys,  and 
was  their  leader  and  director  in  the  regular  practice  of 
swimming. 

The  attempt  was  made  here,  as  in  England,  to  hold  the 
boys  to  the  use  of  Latin  in  their  sports  as  well  as  during 
school  hours.  But  the  endeavor  met  with  very  little 
success.  The  William  and  Mary  Grammar  School  regula- 
tions contained  the  direction,  "If  there  are  any  sort  of 
Plays  or  Diversions  in  Use  among  them,  which  are  not  to 
be  found  extant  in  any  printed  Books,  let  the  Master  com- 
pose and  dictate  to  his  Scholars  Colloquies  fit  for  such  sorts 
of  Plays,  that  they  may  learn  at  all  Times  to  speak  Latin  in 
apt  and  proper  Terms." 

In  the  larger  schools  the  boys  were  divided  into  "  forms," 
those  in  the  same  class  sitting  together  on  one  bench.  The 
advance  from  one  form  to  the  next  higher  seems  to  have 
been  made  at  yearly  intervals.  There  was  also  a  change  of 
position  from  time  to  time  within  the  class,  according  to  the 
goodness  or  badness  of  the  pupil's  recitations.  Emulation 
was  freely  employed,  and  the  position  of  head  of  the  class 
had  strong  attractions  for  some  young  scholars. 

In  Ezekiel  Cheever's  time  at  Boston,  John  Barnard  had  a 
competitor  who  "  beat  me  by  the  help  of  a  brother  in  the 
upper  class,  who  stood  behind  master  with  the  accidence 
open  for  him  to  read  out  of ;  by  which  means  he  could  recite 
his  [  ]  three  and  four  times  in  a  forenoon,  and  the 

same  in  the  afternoon ;  but  I  who  had  no  such  help,  and 
was  obliged  to  commit  all  to  memory,  could  not  keep  pace 
with  him ;  so  he  would  be  always  one  lesson  before  me."  * 
The  seven-year-old  John  was  so  distressed  by  this  affair 
that  he  left  school  for  a  time.  The  incident  shows,  among 
other  things,  that  the  recitations  in  this  school  were  individ- 
ual, although  the  grading  and  classification  of  the  pupils 
regularly  provided  for. 

1  Quoted  by  JENKS,  Historical  sketch,  pp.  26-27. 


140          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

We  find  some  little  account  of  the  houses  in  which  these 
schools  were  kept.  A  writer  already  referred  to  in  the 
Independent  Reflector  (New  York  City)  for  November  8, 
1753,  made  an  earnest  plea  for  the  establishment  of  public 
grammar  schools  in  the  province  of  New  York,  in  the  course 
of  which  he  told,  by  way  of  illustration,  of  such  schools 
"  in  the  Colonies  to  the  Eastward."  It  seems  probable  that 
the  county  grammar  schools  of  Connecticut  were  especially 
intended.  "  They  are  built  upon  the  Commons,  contain  but 
one  Eoom,  are  tight  and  warm,  and  not  more  costly  nor 
larger  than  a  common  Log  Cottage.  The  Master  suits  him- 
self with  a  Lodging  in  the  Village,  and  so  do  his  Pupils 
generally  at  a  very  cheap  Kate."  1 

Not  infrequently  elsewhere  the  school  house  and  the 
house  of  the  master  were  one  and  the  same  building.  This 
seems  to  have  been  the  case  at  Boston  during  some  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  But  at  another  time  we  find  in  the 
Boston  records  a  lot  mentioned  as  lying  between  the  school 
house  and  the  house  of  the  master.  In  the  opening  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  Boston  built  a  new  residence  for 
the  master  and  very  soon  after  a  new  school  house.  From 
the  selectmen's  minutes,  .a  pretty  definite  idea  of  this  school 
house  can  be  got.  It  was  forty  feet  long  by  twenty  wide, 
and  eleven  feet  high  in  the  studding.  There  were  eight 
windows  below  and  five  in  the  roof.  The  building  was 
clapboarded  and  shingled.  There  were  stairs  to  the  second 
floor,  and  a  ladder  from  that  floor  to  the  bell.  The  main 
room  was  divided  by  a  partition  —  the  purpose  of  which 
does  not  appear.  There  were  three  rows  of  benches  for 
the  boys  on  each  side  of  the  school  room. 

Such,  at  least,  was  the  building  for  which  the  selectmen 
contracted  ;  and  for  erecting  it  the  builder  was  to  receive 
one  hundred  pounds,  together  with  the  materials  of  the  old 
building,  while  he  provided  the  materials  for  the  new.  It 
was  in  this  building  that  Benjamin  Franklin  went  to 
school. 

1  Op*  tit.,  p.  202. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  141 

This  school  house  was  pulled  down  in  1748  to  make  way 
for  an  extension  of  King's  Chapel,  and  again  a  new  house 
was  erected  for  the  school,  across  the  way.1  This  was  a 
brick  building,  nearly  square,  with  a  cupola  in  which  the 
bell  hung.  It  had  a  school  room  on  the  main  floor,  and 
some  use  was  made  of  an  attic  room  over  this. 

One  who  was  a  pupil  in  this  building  described  the 
school-room  as  follows  :  "  The  Master's  desk  was  at  the 
south  [rear]  end  on  the  right  side  of  the  back  door.  .  . 
The  Usher's  desk  was  in  the  northeasterly  corner ;  between 
it  and  the  [front]  door  was  a  small,  or  short  seat  and  desk, 
in  which  a  few  of  the  first  [lowest]  class  sat  at  times,  as,  I 
think,  for  want  of  room  with  the  others  ;  between  this  desk 
and  the  door  came  down  a  bell-rope.  Then  going  round 
against  the  sun  were  the  seats  of  the  third  and  fourth 
classes,  on  the  west  side  were  the  first  and  second,  and  on 
the  east  side  were  the  fifth,  sixth  and  seventh  classes  ;  the 
lowest  class  was  without  desks  and  not  elevated  from  the 
floor."  Another  old-time  school-boy  adds  to  this  account: 
"  The  back  forms  were  two  feet  higher  than  the  front,  the 
windows  so  high  that  the  boys  could  not '  shin  up '  to  see 
the  soldiers  passing."  Still  another  gives  these  additional 
items :  "  The  boys  of  the  younger  forms  sat  on  benches, 
with  a  box  underneath  in  which  to  put  their  books;  but 
after  the  fourth  form,  when  they  began  to  make  Latin,  they 
had  desks  in  front  of  them  on  which  to  write." 

These  descriptions  suggest  a  very  plain  and  diminutive 
copy  of  one  of  those  impressive  old  school-rooms  of  the 
English  public  schools  which  are  so  admirably  pictured  in 
Ackermann's  work.2 

1  The  town  was  dreadfully  excited  over  this  change.    It  was  carried  through 
the  town  meeting  by  a  vote  of  205  to  197.     On  this  occasion,  the  wit  of  the 
town,  Joseph  Green,  Esq.,  wrote  a  little  skit  that  has  become  famous  : 

"  *  A  fig  for  your  learning  !    I  tell  you  the  Town 

To  make  the  church  larger,  must  pull  the  school  down.' 

1  Unluckily  spoken,'  replied  Master  Birch,  — 

4  Then  learning,  I  fear,  stops  the  growth  of  the  church.' " 

2  See  bibliographical  notes  to  chapter  2.    The  school-rooms  of  Eton,  St. 
Paul's,  Merchant  Taylors',  and  Harrow  are  especially  suggested.    The  two 


142          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

It  is  fair  to  presume  that  these  Boston  school  houses  were 
among  the  best  of  their  time  in  this  country,  and  that  the 
worse  provision  for  housing  the  schools,  in  many  other 
places,  assumed  all  sorts  and  degrees  of  badness.  A  letter 
has  been  preserved  which  was  addressed  by  the  school- 
master at  Koxbury  to  one  of  the  feoffees  of  the  Koxbury 
grammar  school,  about  1681.  "Of  inconveniences,"  it  reads, 
"  I  shall  instance  in  no  other  than  that  of  the  school-house, 
the  confused  and  shattered  and  nastie  posture  that  it  is  in, 
not  fitting  for  to  reside  in ;  the  glass  broken,  and  thereupon 
very  raw  and  cold,  the  floor  very  much  broken  and  torn  up 
to  kindle  fires,  the  hearth  spoiled,  the  seats,  some  burnt  and 
others  out  of  kilter,  so  that  one  had  as  well  nigh  as  goods 
keep  school  in  a  hog  stie  as  in  it." l 

It  is  a  very  interesting  picture  which  Philip  Vickers 
Fithian  gives  of  Nomini  Hall,  the  home  of  Councillor  Rob- 
ert Carter,  in  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia,  where  he 
served  as  tutor  of  Mr.  Carter's  children.2  The  "  Great- 
House  "  on  this  estate  stood  at  the  centre  of  a  large  square, 
each  corner  of  which  was  occupied  by  a  smaller  building  — 
the  stable,  the  coach  house,  the  work  house,  and  the  school 
house  respectively. 

"  The  School  House  is  forty  five  feet  long,  from  East  to  West, 
<fe  twenty-seven  from  North  to  South ;  It  has  five  well-finished, 
convenient  Rooms,  three  below  stairs,  &  two  above ;  It  is  built 
with  Brick  a  Story  and  a  half  high  with  Dormant  Windows ;  In 
each  Room  is  a  fire  ;  In  the  large  Room  below-Stairs  we  keep  our 
School ;  the  other  two  Rooms  below  which  are  smaller  are  allowed 
to  Mr.  Randolph  the  Clerk  ;  The  Room  above  the  School-Room 
Ben  and  I  live  in ;  &  the  other  Room  above  Stairs  belongs  to 

views  which  ACKERMANN  presents  of  the  room  for  the  grammar  school  and 
the  separate  room  for  the  writing  school  at  Christ's  Hospital,  are  interesting. 
The  original  material  for  an  account  of  the  successive  buildings  of  the  Boston 
Latin  School  are  given  in  the  great  memorial  Catalogue  of  that  school  pub- 
lished in  1886.  Cf.  the  account  of  the  school  houses  at  Dorchester  given  in 
the  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVII.,  p.  108. 

1  DILLAWAT,  op.  cit.,  p.  47. 

*  Journal  and  letters,  pp.  127-132. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  143 

Harry  &  Bob.     Five  of  us  live  in  this  House  with  great  neatness, 
&  convenience ;  each  one  has  a  Bed  to  himself." 

Here  Fithian  taught  his  little  school  of  three  boys  and 
five  girls.  His  accommodations  were  more  comfortable  than 
those  provided  for  the  masters  of  public  schools  at  the 
north,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  better  could  have 
been  found  in  the  whole  south  at  that  time. 

The  idea  of  a  "  free  school "  seems  to  have  carried  with 
it  the  thought  of  some  permanent  revenue  apart  from  pupils' 
fees.  It  has  been  shown  in  the  account  of  individual  schools 
how  various  were  the  methods  followed  in  providing  for 
such  revenue.  A  free  school  was  commonly  free  to  a  lim- 
ited number  of  pupils,  or  to  such  as  were  unable  to  pay. 
But  the  greater  number  of  pupils  paid  a  regular  fee, 
which  seems  in  most  cases  not  to  have  gone  above  twenty 
shillings  a  year.  Pupils  were  sometimes  required  in  addition 
to  provide  each  a  fixed  amount  of  wood  for  fuel. 

In  Massachusetts,  the  assessment  and  collection  of  school 
fees  was  found  less  satisfactory  than  the  laying  of  a  town 
tax  for  the  support  of  schools ;  and  accordingly  by  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Massachusetts  gram- 
mar schools  had  generally  become  free,  in  the  sense  in 
which  the  term  is  now  used.1 

We  have  seen,  in  the  chapter  on  colonial  school  sys- 
tems, how  the  general  direction  of  public  education  was 
gradually  passing  over  from  the  ecclesiastical  to  the  civil 
power.  Our  New  England  colonies  and  Maryland  added 
some  new  impetus  to  this  movement.  We  must  now  make 
note  of  the  fact  that  the  immediate  control  of  individual 
institutions  has  followed  a  somewhat  different  course  of 
development  from  that  of  general  systems  of  administra- 
tion. It  does  not  follow  that,  because  the  rules  and  stand- 
ards of  public  instruction  are  prescribed  by  civil  authority, 
the  several  schools  are  managed  by  public  corporations. 

1  MAETIN,  Massachusetts  public  school  system,  pp.  51-52. 


144          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

In  England,  even  at  the  present  time,  there  is  a  well-articu- 
lated state  system  of  elementary  education,  largely  sup- 
ported by  public  funds,  and  carefully  inspected  by  public 
officials.  But  more  than  half  of  the  schools  by  which  this 
education  is  provided  are  under  the  immediate  manage- 
ment and  control  of  certain  religious  societies.  At  the 
same  time  the  secondary  schools  of  England  are  for  the 
most  part  under  the  management  of  various  corporations  — 
a  separate  one  for  each  institution  —  with  hardly  more  than 
the  shadow  of  a  state  system  over  them  all. 

We  shall  perhaps  best  understand  the  development  of 
our  American  types  of  school  administration  if  we  look  first 
at  the  systems  of  college  administration,  which  had  eventu- 
ally much  influence  upon  the  lower  schools. 

The  form  of  external  organization  and  control  adopted 
for  our  earlier  colonial  institutions  was  largely  determined 
by  the  forms  with  which  the  colonists  had  been  familiar  in 
the  mother  country,  yet  those  forms  were  somewhat  modi- 
fied almost  from  the  beginning.  The  common  type  of  organ- 
ization in  English  colleges  was  that  in  which  the  master 
or  master  and  fellows  of  the  school  constituted  a  legal  cor- 
poration, having  full  control  of  the  institution  in  respect  to 
both  its  financial  and  its  educational  concerns.  The  most 
obvious  disadvantage  of  this  system  was  that  it  gave  to 
the  teaching  body  the  management  of  the  funds  out  of 
which  they  themselves  were  paid. 

It  was  plainly  necessary  that  some  check  be  added  to  this 
system,  to  prevent  the  misapplication  of  funds,  and  such 
a  safeguard  was  commonly  provided  by  the  designation  of 
some  "  third  person "  to  act  as  visitor  of  the  institution. 
By  the  "  visitation  "  of  an  establishment  was  meant  a  formal 
inspection  by  the  official  visitor  with  a  view  to  the  correc- 
tion of  abuses,  and  particularly  of  any  failure  to  conduct 
the  institution  in  accordance  with  the  true  intent  of  the 
foundation.  Under  the  common  law,  the  right  of  visitation 
rests  with  the  founder,  and  with  those  who  may  be  desig- 
nated by  him  as  his  successors.  And  the  founder  is  the 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  145 

donor  of  the  first  endowment,  however  insignificant  it  may 
be  as  compared  with  later  gifts  to  the  same  object.  It  was 
a  common  practice  of  the  founders  of  educational  institu- 
tions to  make  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  or  some  other  digni- 
tary of  the  church  their  successor  in  the  visitatorial  office. 

This  explanation  may  help  to  a  clearing-up  of  the  history 
of  our  own  institutions.  In  the  two  main  types  of  educa- 
tional administration  which  have  been  developed  on  Ameri- 
can soil,  the  visitors  have  been  made  identical  with  the 
corporation,  the  corporation  at  the  same  time  being  separated 
from  the  teaching  body.  Some  of  the  stages  in  the  devel- 
opment of  these  administrative  systems  will' be  considered 
as  we  proceed ;  for  they  are  vitally  connected  with  the  de- 
velopment of  American  educational  ideals,  and  of  American 
civilization. 

We  find  the  title  of  visitor  retained  in  connection  with 
a  few  of  our  schools  and  colleges.  The  term  visitation  is 
rarely  used  among  us  except  as  applied  to  Providence. 
We  hear  occasionally  of  such  providential  visitation  as  an 
earthquake  or  a  flood  or  an  epidemic  of  cholera.  This 
survival  of  the  term  may  be  a  reminder  of  the  fact  that 
a  righteous  visitor  was  dreaded  like  the  plague  by  the 
managers  of  charitable  foundations  who  had  abused  their 
trust;  and  it  might  be  added  that  an  over-zealous  and 
meddlesome  visitation  must  have  plagued  many  a  right- 
eous corporation. 

The  English  system  was  not  wholly  satisfactory  at  home, 
and  even  if  it  had  been  unobjectionable,  some  adjustment 
to  colonial  conditions  would  have  been  found  necessary. 
But  various  mixed  and  tentative  forms  of  organization  were 
adopted  in  different  places  before  anything  like  agreement 
was  reached. 

Harvard  College  seems  to  have  been  managed  at  first  by 
direct  action  of  the  General  Court  of  the  colony ;  then  by 
the  Board  of  Overseers ;  then  by  its  close  Corporation, 
subject  to  a  sort  of  visitatorial  supervision  by  the  Over- 
seers. The  Corporation  contained  members  of  the  teach- 

10 


146       THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

ing  force  at  first,  but  was  gradually  transformed  into  an 
outside  body,  the  most  of  the  members  having  then  no 
pecuniary  interest  in  the  institution.  The  constitution  of 
the  Board  of  Overseers  was  the  subject  of  much  debate  and 
went  through  various  transformations,  which  need  not  con- 
cern us  here. 

William  and  Mary  College,  too,  had  a  composite  organiza- 
tion, with  reminders  of  the  English  type.  The  president 
and  professors  of  the  college  were  made  a  corporation,  em- 
powered to  hold  and  manage  the  property  of  the  institution. 
But  the  general  laws  for  the  government  of  the  college  were 
prescribed  by  'another  body,  the  "  Visitors  and  governors,' 
who  also  appointed  the  members  of  the  teaching  corps. 
This  board  of  visitors  was  a  self-perpetuating  body. 

When  the  establishment  of  a  college  in  Connecticut  was 
under  discussion,  the  projectors  took  all  manner  of  pains  to 
seek  out  the  best  available  form  of  organization.  They 
seem  to  have  been  sensible  of  danger  to  such  an  institution 
from  both  the  civil  and  the  ecclesiastical  power.  If  we  may 
trust  the  account  of  President  Clap,  ten  ministers,  who  had 
been  designated  for  the  purpose  by  some  sort  of  common 
consent,  constituted  themselves  the  founders  by  formally 
donating  each  a  number  of  books  for  the  founding  of  a 
college  in  Connecticut.  The  institution  was  set  up  and 
continued  for  many  years  under  a  preliminary  act  of  the 
legislature  ;  but  it  attained  to  its  full  collegiate  existence 
with  the  granting  of  a  regular  charter,  in  1745.  The  char- 
ter conferred  corporate  powers  on  a  body  to  be  known  as 
"  The  President  and  Fellows  of  Yale  College  in  New  Haven." 
This  was  a  simple,  close  corporation,  without  limitation  as 
to  the  persons  who  might  be  appointed  to  fill  vacancies  in 
its  membership.  The  word  "  fellows "  was  used  in  the 
title,  after  the  English  fashion ;  but  it  was  not  understood 
to  mean  members  of  the  teaching  force.  The  president  and 
fellows  were  given  absolute  control  over  the  financial  and 
educational  administration  of  the  institution. 

A  few  sporadic  examples  of  this  simple  and  flexible  type 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  14? 

of  control  are  found  among  the  lower  schools  before  the 
charter  of  Yale  was  granted ;  yet  Yale  became  so  influential 
in  this  matter,  by  becoming  a  prolific  mother  of  schools  and 
colleges,  that  we  shall  not  be  far  amiss  if  we  call  this  the 
Yale  type  of  administration. 

The  other  colleges  that  were  founded  in  the  colonial 
period  for  the  most  part  followed  the  lead  of  Yale  in  this 
matter,  with  only  slight  variations.1  All  but  Brown  and 
Pennsylvania  had  charter  provisions  making  certain  civil 
officers  members  ex  officio  of  their  boards  of  trustees.  Co-  x. 
lumbia  had,  in  addition,  certain  ecclesiastical  members  ex 
officio.  But  in  every  such  case  the  members  ex  officio  were 
less  than  a  majority  of  the  board.  Brown  was  the  only 
one  which  made  members  of  the  teaching  body  (besides 
the  president)  members  also  of  the  corporation.  In  no  case 
was  there  provision  for  visitation  by  any  other  body  than 
the  corporation  itself.2  And  in  all  of  them,  vacancies  in 
trusteeships  not  held  by  the  incumbents  ex  officio  were  to 
be  filled  by  vote  of  the  remaining  trustees. 

After  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  example 
of  the  colleges  plainly  influenced  the  organization  of  the 
secondary  schools ;  and  there  appears  a  clear  tendency  toward 
the  establishment  of  such  schools  under  close  corporations. 
But  through  the  greater  part  of  the  colonial  period,  the  close 
corporation  type  of  organization  is  only  one  among  several 
found  in  schools  of  this  grade.  Especially  where  local  gov- 
ernment was  in  vigorous  life,  and  where  the  schools  were 
local  institutions  in  that  each  was  intended  chiefly  for  the 
benefit  of  the  home  community,  the  public  might  be  expected 
to  have  a  considerable  part  in  their  inception  and  manage- 
ment, and  such  was  actually  the  case. 

1  There  were  six  of  them  :  The  College  of  New  Jersey  (Princeton),  1746  ; 
King's  (Columbia),  1754;  The  College  of  Philadelphia  (University  of  Penn- 
sylvania), 1755;  Rhode  Island  College  (Brown  University),  1764;  Queen's 
(Rutgers),  1766;  and  Dartmouth,  1769.     The  modern  names  are  given  in 
parentheses,  ami  are  used  for  convenience  in  the  text. 

2  The  charter  of  King's  College  even  provided  expressly  that  the  institu- 
tion should  not  be  subject  to  visitation  by  any  other  person  or  persons. 


148          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

In  the  early  days  in  Massachusetts,  a  vote  of  the  town 
meeting  appointing  a  schoolmaster  was  a  common  way  of 
making  a  beginning  in  the  setting  up  of  a  school.  And  the 
town  seems  to  have  proceeded  in  this  very  direct  fashion  in 
the  transaction  of  school  business  after  the  beginning  had 
been  made.  The  action  of  Dorchester,  in  appointing  a 
permanent  board  of  "  wardens  or  overseers,"  in  1645,  was 
an  important  step.  These  wardens  were  chosen  for  life, 
but  vacancies  in  their  number  were  to  be  filled  by  vote  of 
the  town.1 

The  first  donors  to  the  support  of  a  free  school  at  Eoxbury 
appointed  seven  feoffees  as  a  board  of  control.  It  was  pro- 
vided that  vacancies  in  the  number  of  feoffees  should  be 
filled  by  appointment  of  the  donors  or  their  heirs.  But  in 
default  of  such  appointment  within  one  month,  the  remain- 
ing feoffees  were  empowered  to  elect  a  successor.  There  was 
much  complaint  among  the  townsmen  in  later  years  on 
account  of  the  private  character  of  this  system  of  control. 
Similar  complaint  seems  to  have  been  common  enough  at 
Hadley.  The  town  had  no  effective  check  upon  the  manage- 
ment of  its  school,  and  attempts  to  bind  the  close-constituted 
school  committee  by  votes  in  town  meeting  made  no  end  of 
friction  and  trouble.  When  a  free  school  was  first  set  up 
in  New  Haven,  the  pastor  and  magistrates  were  charged 
with  making  rules  and  orders  for  its  management,  and 
also  with  determining  what  contribution  should  be  made 
out  of  the  funds  of  the  town  for  its  support.  When  the 
Hopkins  fund  became  available,  the  Hopkins  trustees  des- 
ignated "  the  town  court  of  New  Haven,  consisting  of  the 
magistrates  and  deputies,  together  with  the  officers  of  the 

1  The  action  of  the  town  is  recorded  in  the  quaint  language  of  the  time  : 
"[They]  shall  Continue  in  their  office  and  place  for  Terme  of  thei*  Hues  re- 
spectiuely  vnlesse  by  reason  of  any  of  them  remouing  his  habitation  out  of  the 
Towne,  or  fo*  any  othe*  Weightie  reason,  the  Inhabitants  shall  see  cause  to 
Elect  and  Chuse  othe"  in  their  Roorne,  in  wch  cases  and  vpon  the  death  of 
any  of  the  same  wardens,  the  Inhabitants  shall  make  a  new  Election  and 
choice  of  others." 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  149 


church  there,"  as  their  assigns  for  the  management  of  the 
foundation.1 

In  the  New  England  towns  it  seems  to  have  been  taken 
as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  schools  should  be  inspected  by 
the  ministers.  In  Boston,  soon  after  the  death  of  Cheever, 
the  town  undertook  to  "  nominate  and  appoint  a  certain 
number  of  Gentlemen  of  Liberal  Education,  Together  with 
some  of  the  Revd  Ministers  of  the  Town,  ...  to  Visit  ye 
School  from  time  to  time,  when  and  as  oft,  as  they  Shall 
think  fit,  To  Enform  themselves  of  the  Methods  Used  in 
Teaching  of  the  Schollars  and  to  inquire  of  their  Proficiency, 
.  .  .  the  Master  being  before  notified  of  their  coming  .  .  . 
And  at  their  said  Visitation,  One  of  the  Ministers  by  turns 
to  pray  with  the  Schollars,  and  Entertain  'em  with  Some 
Instructions  of  Piety  Specially  Adapted  to  their  Age  and 
Education."  Increase  Mather  was  highly  indignant  when 
he  learned  that  the  town  had  ventured  to  associate  laymen 
with  the  ministers  in  the  discharge  of  this  function. 

In  some  of  the  southern  colonies,  the  judges  of  county 
courts  were  now  and  then  charged  with  the  management  of 
schools.  It  is  fair  to  assume  that  they  were  generally  the 
best  educated  of  civil  office  holders,  and  their  professional 
training  and  instincts  would  distinguish  them  as  safe  custo- 
dians of  trust  funds.  But  whatever  the  reason  for  such 
selection  may  have  been,  we  find  incumbents  of  judicial 
offices  repeatedly  charged  with  the  external  management 
of  schools. 

In  Virginia,  the  happy  suggestion  that  law  and  gospel 
should  combine  for  educational  purposes  evidently  met  with 
favor.  Benjamin  Syms  designated  the  justices  of  the  peace 
of  the  county  of  Elizabeth  City,  together  with  the  minister 
and  church  wardens  of  Elizabeth  City  parish,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, as  trustees  of  his  endowment  for  a  free  school  in  the 
county  named.  The  legislature,  by  an  act  passed  in  1753, 

i  BACON,  The  Hopkins  Grammar  School,  p.  52.  I  believe  this  trust  was 
made  over  to  a  private  corporation  later  in  the  seventeenth  century,  but  have 
no  definite  information  on  this  point. 


150          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

confirmed  this  appointment  and  incorporated  the  board  of 
managers  thus  constituted,  as  "  the  Trustees  and  Governors 
of  Syms'  free  school  in  the  County  of  Elizabeth  City." 
Church  and  court  were  combined  again  in  an  act  of  1759, 
which  incorporated  the  "  Trustees  and  Governors  of  Eaton's 
Charity  School,"  a  board  identical  in  its  membership  with 
that  erected  for  the  management  of  the  Syms  school. 

In  South  Carolina,  the  corporation  erected  by  the  acts  of 
1710  and  1712  for  the  control  of  the  free  school  at  Charles- 
ton was  a  self-perpetuating  body.  The  act  of  1722  proposed, 
as  was  stated,  to  establish  grammar  schools  in  the  several 
counties  and  precincts  through  the  agency  of  county  and 
precinct  justices.  But  this  combination  of  judicial  and  edu- 
cational functions  was  not  a  success :  or  rather,  it  was  for 
the  most  part  a  very  dismal  failure. 

The  corporation  set  up  by  the  Maryland  act  of  1696, 
under  which  King  William's  School  was  established,  was  a 
self-perpetuating  body.  So,  also,  were  the  several  county 
boards  erected  by  the  act  of  1723.  Whatever  emphasis  may 
have  been  laid  on  the  idea  of  general  public  control  of  edu- 
cation, by  the  action  of  the  legislature  in  this  matter,  was 
offset  by  the  adoption  of  a  plan  which  shut  cut  the  public 
from  any  direct  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the  several 
schools. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  good  deal  of  groping  about  in 
the  effort  to  find  a  good,  working  organization  for  the 
William  Penn  Charter  School  at  Philadelphia.  The  charter 
of  1701  committed  the  management  to  the  monthly  meeting 
of  the  Quakers.  That  of  1708  entrusted  it  to  a  board  of 
fifteen  overseers,  all  of  them  Quakers.  Finally,  the  charter 
of  1711  continued  the  board  of  fifteen  overseers,  with  power 
to  fill  vacancies  in  their  own  number,  subject  only  to  the 
limitation  that  "  discreet,  religious  persons "  should  be  so 
chosen. 

A  combination  board  of  trustees  was  erected  for  the  con- 
trol of  the  free  school  established  in  New  York  in  1732. 
It  was  composed  of  the  justices  of  the  supreme  court,  the 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  151 

rector  of  Trinity  Church,  and  certain  public  officials  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  favorite  idea 
in  that  colony  that  various  elements  and  interests  should  be 
represented  in  a  board  of  educational  control.  This  idea  is 
found  yoked  up  with  the  close  corporation  in  the  early  or- 
ganization of  King's  College.  The  state  did  not  settle  down 
to  simpler  forms  of  organization  until  the  earlier  tendency 
had  reached  a  ridiculous  climax  in  the  first  University  act 
of  1784 

The  religious  activity  of  the  second  quarter  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  had  given  a  great  impetus  to  the  establish- 
ment of  colleges  in  the  middle  and  northern  colonies.  It 
was  a  time  when  many  private  academies  of  the  log  college 
type  were  opened.  But  on  the  whole,  it  was  not  a  time 
when  education  flourished.  The  colleges  were  not  largely 
attended.  The  willingness  of  the  people  to  listen  to  moving 
pulpit  orators  who  had  not  been  regularly  trained  in  the 
schools,  combined  with  other  influences  to  weaken  the  demand 
for  an  educated  ministry.  The  interests  of  the  Latin  gram- 
mar schools  were  bound  up  with  those  of  the  colleges  to 
which  they  were  tributary.  They  suffered  because  the 
colleges  suffered.  But  it  was  not  only  the  little  academies, 
and  the  change  in  religious  conditions  with  which  they  were 
associated,  that  worked  disadvantage  to  the  regular  colleges 
and  grammar  schools.  There  was  observable  a  great  increase 
of  civic  and  secular  spirit  which  had  little  regard  for  the 
strict  ecclesiasticism  of  the  established  institutions. 

In  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  the  more  zealous 
orthodoxy  of  the  time  was  doubtful  concerning  the  estab- 
lished education,  believing  it  to  be  tainted  with  heresy.  In 
Virginia,  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  and  secularists  alike  were 
against  William  and  Mary  College  and  the  church  establish- 
ment of  which  it  formed  a  part.  The  time  was  not  come 
when  a  school  system,  at  once  civic  and  non-sectarian,  could 
be  seriously  considered.  So  the  signs  all  pointed  to  a 
splitting  up  of  educational  interests,  and  the  setting  up  of 
institutions,  compactly  organized,  each  standing  by  itself, 


152          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

free  from  entangling  alliance  with  the  shifting,  crumbling, 
or  hopelessly  unchanging  institutions  of  church  and  state 
about  it.  The  close  corporation  met  this  need,  and  provided 
at  the  same  time  for  effective  business  management.  We 
have  seen  that  the  later  colonial  colleges  tended  strongly 
toward  this  type  of  administration ;  and  it  became  the 
prevalent  type  in  the  rising  academies. 

It  appears  that  a  new  spirit  was  coming  into  American 
education,  which,  however  gradually,  was  transforming  old 
institutions  and  making  new  ones,  and  becoming  really  it- 
self through  this  process.  One  of  the  most  notable  of  these 
institutions  was  the  academy.  The  American  institution 
bearing  that  name  did  not  come  into  being,  however,  apart 
from  all  European  precedent.  The  study  of  its  origin  will 
take  us  into  one  of  the  most  important  by-ways  in  the  his- 
tory of  English  education,  with  which  the  next  chapter  will 
have  to  do. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

CHEEVER'S  Accidence  was  the  most  famous  if  not  the  only  text-book 
for  secondary  schools  published  in  this  country  during  the  colonial  period. 
Interesting  notes  upon  it  appear  in  BARNARD'S  Am.  Journ.  Hd.t  I., 
pp.  310-311 ;  and  XXVII.,  pp.  73-74.  It  was  widely  used,  not  only  in 
colonial  times,  but  well  down  into  the  nineteenth  century.  The  latest  edi- 
tion was  issued  in  1838.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Bentley,  D.D.,  of  Salem,  who 
died  in  1819,  said  of  it,  "Before  Mr.  Cheever's  Accidence  obtained, 
Mr.  John  Brinsley's  method  had  obtained,  and  this  was  published  in  161 1,1 
three  years  before  Cheever  was  born.  It  is  in  question  and  answer,  and 
was  undoubtedly  known  to  Cheever,  who  has  availed  himself  of  the  ex- 
pression, but  has  most  ingeniously  reduced  it  to  the  form  of  his  Acci- 
dence, — 134  small  4to  pages  to  79  small  12mo,  with  the  addition  of  an 
excellent  Table  of  Irregular  Verbs  from  the  great  work  of  the  days  of 
Roger  Ascham."  Loc.  cit.  Cf.  STEINER,  Education  in  Connecticut,  p.  23. 

The  Accidence  served  as  a  Latin  primer,  and  after  completing  it  the 
pupil  was  put  into  Lilly's  grammar.  John  Ward's  edition  of  Lilly  came 
into  use  shortly  before  the  Revolution.  It  was  published  in  London,  in 
1755,  and  was  in  three  parts.  The  first  part  (71  numbered  pages)  was  — 

1  I  do  not  think  there  was  any  earlier  edition  than  that  of  1612. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLING  153 

A.  short  introduction  of  grammar,  generally  to  be  used :  Compiled  and  set 
forth  for  the  bringing  up  of  all  those  that  intend  to  attain  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Latin  tongue. 
The  second  part  was  the  real  Lilly,  all  in  Latin  (pp.  139).    The  third 

was  — 

Propria  quae  maribus,  quae  genus,  as  in  praesenti,  syntaxis,  qui  mihi, 
construed  (80  pages). 

This  last-named  division  begins  with  "  Dicas  you  may  call,  propria 
proper  names,  quae  which  tribuuntur  are  given  maribus  to  males,  mascula 
masculines  ;  " 

and  so  on  to  the  end. 

CATO'S  Distichs  had  been  a  text-book  from  the  Middle  Ages  down. 
Nothing  is  known  of  the  author.  It  has  been  surmised  that  he  lived  under 
the  Antonines. 

FR.  ZARNCKE,  Der  deutsche  Cato.  .  .  .  (Leipzig,  1852,  pp.  6  -f  198), 
gives  a  history  of  mediaeval  translations  of  this  work.  It  was  edited  by 
Erasmus,  with  commentaries.  In  the  library  of  Columbia  University 
there  is  a  copy  of  the  sixth  edition  of  a  book  edited  by  N.  BAILET,  and 
bearing  this  title  : 

Cato's  distichs  de  moribus.  With  a  numerical  clavis,  and  construing  and 
parsing  index.  ...  To  which  is  added,  An  English  translation  of 
Erasmus's  Commentaries  on  each  distich.  .  .  .  London,  1771,  pp. 
132. 

The  following  are  examples  of  these  distichs : 

"  Si  Deus  est  animus,  nobis  ut  carmina  dicunt, 
Hie  tibi  praecipue,  sit  pura  mente  colendus." 

•*  Nil  temere  uxori  de  servis  crede  querenti  ; 
Saepe  etenim  mulier,  quern  conjux  diligit,  odit." 

"  Ne  dubites,  cum  magna  petas,  impendere  parva ; 
His  etenim  rebus  conjugit  gratia  charos." 

This  is  paraphrased,  "  One  good  turn  deserves  another.'* 

"  Uxoris  linguam,  si  frugi  est,  ferre  memento  : 
Namque  malum  est  nil  velle  pati,  nee  posse  tacere." 

This  is  accompanied  with  the  ambiguous  paraphrase,  "  A  talkative  Wife,  if 
honest,  is  to  be  born  with.  " 

There  is  also  in  the  library  of  Columbia  University  an  extensive  treatise 
(pp.  640)  on  Cato,  including  the  commentaries  of  numerous  authorities, 
together  with  the  Greek  metaphrase  of  Maximus  Planudes.  It  was  pub- 
lished at  Amsterdam  in  1759,  and  bears  the  title,  Historia  critica  Cato- 


154          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

EUTROPIUS  (fl.  380  A.D.)  was  the  author  of  a  brief  history  of  Rome,  in 
ten  books.  It  is  published  with  an  extensive  proaemium  by  H.  DROYSEN, 
in  the  Monumenta  Germaniae  historica,  I.,  part  1.  This  text  has  long 
been  out  of  use  in  the  schools  of  this  country;  but  it  has  recently 
been  issued  by  the  American  Book  Company  in  an  edition  prepared  by 
DR.  J.  C.  HAZZARD. 

In  the  Library  of  Congress  there  is  a  copy  of 

The  charter,  and  statutes,  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  in  Virginia, 
in  Latin  and  English.     Williamsburg,  1736,  pp.  122 ; 

which  I  have  used  in  preparing  the  present  chapter. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES 

PLATO  taught  his  disciples  hi  the  grove  of  Academus,  and 
his  school  was  called  in  consequence  The  Academy.  But 
how  did  the  name  come  to  be  applied  to  humble  institu- 
tions for  secondary  education  on  this  Western  Continent  ? 
The  history  of  the  word  is  of  interest  chiefly  because  of  the 
light  which  it  may  throw  on  the  history  of  the  institution. 
The  commonly  received  account  is  that  offered  some  years 
ago  by  Dr.  Henry  Barnard ;  and,  though  open  to  criticism  at 
several  points,  it  may  well  serve  as  our  point  of  departure 
in  this  inquiry : 

"The  earliest  English  or  American  use  of  academy,  as 
applied  to  an  institution  of  instruction  for  youth,  we  find 
in  Milton's  letter  to  Samuel  Hartlib,  in  1643,  where  the 
Academy,  by  which  he  designated  his  institute  for  a  com- 
plete and  generous  culture,  covers  the  whole  field  of  the 
grammar  school,  the  college  within  the  university,  and  the 
university.  The  Non-conformists  applied  the  term  to  their 
boarding  schools,  which  in  grade  of  instruction,  resemble 
nearly  the  English  Public  School,  or  the  endowed  grammar 
school.  In  this  sense  Defoe  uses  the  term  in  his  Essay  upon 
Projects  first  published  in  1699,1  and  at  the  same  time  em- 
ploys it,  in  the  general  English  usage,  to  designate  an  asso- 
ciation of  philologists  to  improve  and  perfect  the  English 
tongue  like  the  French  academy.  In  the  essay  cited,  Defoe 
gives  the  plan  of  an  Academy  for  Music,  with  hints  for 
cheap  Sunday  concerts ;  an  Academy  for  Military  Science 

1  The  copy  of  the  Essay  upon  projects,  in  the  Boston  Public  Library,  is 
dated  1697. 


156          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

and  Practice ;  and  an  Academy  for  Women  —  the  earliest 
project  of  a  school  of  this  grade  for  women  in  England  or 
America  by  near  a  century.  From  Defoe  we  can  easily 
trace  the  earliest  use  of  the  term  in  this  country  to  Frank- 
lin, who  acknowledges,  in  his  autobiography,  his  indebted- 
ness to  Defoe's  Essay  upon  Projects  as  having  influenced 
some  of  the  principal  events  of  his  life,  and  designates  his 
plan  for  public  education  of  youth  in  Pennsylvania,  a  pro- 
ject of  an  academy.  After  Franklin's  pamphlet,  which  had 
a  very  wide  circulation,  and  which  will  be  found  bound  up 
with  other  pamphlets  of  the  Eevolutionary  period  in  most  of 
the  old  libraries  of  the  country,  the  term,  and  the  institution 
itself  became  quite  common..  In  many  states  before  1800 
Academies  were  established  with  Boards  of  Trustees,  and 
certain  corporate  powers  after  the  plan  of  Franklin,  and  not 
a  few  of  them  bore  his  name."  l 

The  use  of  the  word  academy,  to  designate  some  sort  of 
school  was  not  uncommon  among  the  great  humanists  of  the 
Continent.  And  Milton's  letter  to  Samuel  Hartlib  may 
fairly  be  called  the  last  of  a  long  and  notable  line  of  essays 
on  education  called  out  by  the  renaissance.  Among  its  pre- 
decessors are  to  be  mentioned  the  treatises  of  ^Eneas  Sylvius, 
Guarino,  Erasmus,  Vives,  and  Ascham.2 

But  Milton  was  mere  than  a  man  of  the  renaissance.  To 
say  nothing  of  his  puritanism,  he  was  a  true  contemporary 
of  Bacon  and  Descartes ;  of  Comenius,  too,  though  he  dis- 
misses the  Janua  with  a  shrug ;  of  Pascal  and  Locke  and 
Newton.  Standing  midway  between  Erasmus  and  Kousseau, 
he  belongs  to  both  the  renaissance  and  the  return  to  nature. 
In  two  luminous  sentences  he  places  the  two  schools  of 
thought  side  by  side,  and  allies  himself  with  both.  "  Seeing 
every  nation  affords  not  experience  and  tradition  enough  for 
all  kinds  of  learning,  therefore  we  are  chiefly  taught  the 
languages  of  those  people  who  have  at  any  time  been  most 

1  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXX.,  p.  760. 

2  Four  of  the  earlier  essays  of  this  class  are  reproduced,  in  English  transla- 
tion, in  WOODWARD'S  Vittorino  da  Feltre. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  157 

industrious  after  wisdom."  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
better  putting  of  the  classical  spirit  in  education,  as  it  is  at 
its  best.  "  Because  our  understanding  cannot  in  this  body 
found  itself  but  on  sensible  things,  nor  arrive  so  clearly  to 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  things  invisible,  as  by  orderly 
conning  over  the  visible  and  inferior  creature,  the  same 
method  is  necessarily  to  be  followed  in  all  discreet  teaching." 
That  is  the  spirit  of  our  natural  science,  as  seen  from  afar 
by  one  who  knew  how  to  be  both  a  Puritan  and  a  poet  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  And  his  way  of  bringing  the  two 
views  together,  in  some  stereoscopic  unity,  appears  from  the 
added  clause,  "  that  language  is  but  the  instrument  convey- 
ing to  us  tilings  useful  to  be  known."  Such  hospitality 
toward  many  kinds  of  knowledge  has  more  than  once  been 
found  in  the  masters  who  know  indeed ;  but  those  who  have 
shown  it  seem  to  belong  of  right  to  our  modern  world. 

There  is  that  in  the  brief  Tractate  on  Education  which 
stirs  one  like  the  sounding  of  a  trumpet.  It  is  the  free 
setting  forth  of  an  education  "  for  all  the  offices,  both  private 
and  public,  of  peace  and  war,"  by  one  who  has  known  "  many 
studious  and  contemplative  years,  altogether  spent  in  the 
search  of  religious  and  civil  knowledge."  It  has  been 
slighted  as  being  unpractical,  but  its  excellence  is  seen  in 
this,  that  it  does  not  accommodate  itself  to  any  petty  con- 
ception of  what  is  practical  or  practicable. 

It  is  a  scheme  for  the  education  of  "  our  noble  and  our  gentle 
youth "  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  twenty-one.  The 
schooling  of  this  period  is  to  be  the  concern  of  a  single 
institution,  an  "  academy,"  which  shall  be  both  school  and 
university.  This  academy  does  not  offer  instruction  in  the 
most  elementary  arts;  nor  does  it  provide  for  the  profes- 
sional training  of  future  practitioners  in  law  or  medicine  ;  but 
it  carries  to  completion  "  those  general  studies  which  take 
up  all  our  time  from  Lilly  to  commencing,  as  they  term  it, 
master  of  art." 

Such  general  studies,  in  Milton's  thought,  shape  them- 
selves into  a  wonderful  curriculum.  First  comes  the  Latin 


158          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR   MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

grammar;  then  as  soon  as  the  pupil  can  read  a  little  in 
Latin,  he  will  study  some  classical  work  on  education,1 
which  can  hardly  be  anything  else  than  the  first  two  or 
three  books  of  Quintilian.  Some  beginning  is  now  made  in 
arithmetic  and  geometry ;  and  the  time  between  supper  and 
going  to  bed  is  taken  with  easy  studies  in  religion  and  the 
Scripture  history.  The  next  Latin  authors  to  be  read  are 
such  as  treat  of  agriculture  —  Cato,  Varro,  and  Columella. 
These  are  to  be  followed  by  some  modern  work  on  "the  use 
of  the  globes,"  that  is,  astronomy  and  geography ;  or  "  any 
compendious  method  of  natural  philosophy."  At  the  same 
time,  Greek  is  begun  with  the  study  of  the  grammar,  which 
the  pupil  will  easily  master.  Then  Greek  writers  on  "  his- 
torical physiology,"  Aristotle  and  Theophrastus,  are  to  be 
read,  along  with  Yitruvius,  Seneca's  natural  questions,  Mela, 
Celsus,  Pliny,  or  Solinus.  Studies  in  mathematics  are  to  be 
carried  forward  into  trigonometry,  with  practical  application 
to  fortification,  architecture,  engineering,  or  navigation. 
Natural  philosophy  will  be  continued  in  the  study  of  "  the 
history  "of  meteors,  minerals,  plants,  and  living  creatures,  as 
far  as  anatomy."  Then  follows,  in  natural  sequence,  an  in- 
troduction to  the  study  of  medicine. 

In  all  of  these  studies  of  nature  and  of  the  occupations 
which  deal  with  the  physical  world,  the  experience  of  prac- 
titioners in  the  several  fields  is  to  be  utilized,  so  that  the 
pupils  may  get  "a  real  tincture  of  natural  knowledge." 
Then  the  poets  who  deal  with  nature,  both  Latin  and  Greek, 
will  be  found  agreeable  reading. 

By  this  time  the  pupils  will  have  attained  to  sufficient 
maturity  of  judgment  to  profit  by  the  reading  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  moralists.  The  mention  of  these  leads  to  a  word 
on  the  deep  question  of  the  relation  of  morals  to  religion. 
This  was  touched  on  early  in  the  essay,  where,  the  end  of 
learning  having  been  set  forth  as  the  regaining  of  a  knowl- 

1  This  attempt  to  make  the  learner  conscious,  from  an  early  period,  of  the 
processes  of  his  own  education,  finds  a  parallel  in  the  practice  of  Chinese 
schools. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  159 

edge  of  God,  it  was  added  that  such  knowledge  should  lead 
men  to  love  Him  and  be  like  Him,  "  as  we  may  the  nearest 
by  possessing  our  souls  of  true  virtue,  which  being  united 
to  the  heavenly  grace  of  faith,  makes  up  the  highest  perfec- 
tion." So  pagan  virtue  and  Christian  faith  were  brought 
together.  Now  the  working  out  of  this  union  in  practice 
is  proposed;  for  the  heathen  moralists,  studied  during  the 
day,  "are  still  to  be  reduced  in  their  nightward  studies 
wherewith  they  close  the  day's  work,  under  the  determinate 
sentence  of  David  or  Solomon,  or  the  evangelists  and  apostolic 
Scriptures." 

After  ethics,  economics ;  and,  Italian  having  been  "  easily 
learned,  at  any  odd  hour,"  the  boys  may  now  read,  under 
caution,  in  choice  comedies,  Greek,  Latin,  or  Italian,  and 
tragedies  that  deal  with  household  matters.  Then  politics, 
with  law  and  legal  justice,  Hebrew,  Gr?cian,  Roman,  and 
Saxon ;  the  common  law  and  statutes.  The  evening  studies 
are  to  be  supplemented  with  theology  and  church  history 
on  Sundays.  Hebrew  will  have  been  mastered  before  this, 
"  whereto  it  would  be  no  impossibility  to  add  the  Chaldee 
and  the  Syrian  dialect."  The  great  masterpieces  of  Greek 
and  Eoman  literature  are  to  be  read,  histories,  epics,  trage- 
dies, orations.  And  along  with  them,  "  those  organic  arts," 
logic,  rhetoric,  and  poetics. 

Milton  protests  against  requiring  small  boys  to  compose 
in  Latin,  out  of  the  extreme  poverty  of  youthful  wits ;  but 
after  the  mind  has  been  enriched  and  the  judgment 
strengthened  by  this  long  course  of  reading  and  study,  he 
would  have  the  composition  of  various  forms  of  discourse 
appear  as  one  of  the  most  advanced  exercises  of  the  school. 
English  as  well  as  Latin  composition  is  evidently  intended. 

Much  stress  is  laid  upon  physical  exercise,  and  particularly 
such  as  would  form  good  soldiers.  A  wholesome  diet,  too, 
is  urgently  recommended.  Music  is  to  recreate  and  compose 
the  spirit  in  the  time  of  rest  from  exercise,  and  also  to  assist 
nature  in  the  process  of  digestion  after  meat.  In  the  spring, 
time  the  young  men  are  not  to  study  overmuch,  but  rather 


160          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

to  ride  out  over  the  land,  looking  upon  the  riches  of  nature, 
and  observing  the  strategic,  industrial,  and  commercial 
advantages  of  different  sections ;  or  to  gain  some  knowledge 
of  seamanship.  Such  means  would  give  exercise  to  a  variety 
of  gifts,  "and  if  there  were  any  secret  excellence  among 
them  would  fetch  it  out."  After  the  course  in  the  academy 
is  completed,  the  young  men  may  travel  abroad,  but  foreign 
travel  at  an  earlier  period  is  not  recommended. 

Such  is  the  high  and  magnificent  scheme  of  education 
which  Milton  proposes.  He  insists  that  it  is  possible,  and 
at  the  same  time  admits  "  that  this  is  not  a  bow  for  every 
man  to  shoot  in,  that  counts  himself  a  teacher;  but  will 
require  sinews  almost  equal  to  those  which  Homer  gave 
Ulysses." 

Milton  himself  taught  for  a  time,  and  in  his  school  made 
use  of  a  formidable  list  of  Latin  and  Greek  authors  in  the 
domain  of  natural  science,  and  works  relating  to  those 
occupations  which  depend  upon  a  knowledge  of  nature. 
Dr.  Johnson,  who  had  also  been  a  schoolmaster,  treated 
Milton's  service  as  a  teacher  rather  contemptuously ;  and 
pronounced  with  patronizing  finality  against  magnifying 
the  study  of  natural  science  in  the  schools.  But  Johnson 
lived  a  century  later  than  Milton,  and  was  doubtless  in- 
veighing against  a  tendency  of  his  own  time,  which,  rein- 
forced by  French  influence,  was  already  going  further  than 
anything  with  which  the  seventeenth  century  had  been 
familiar.  Johnson  set  the  knowledge  of  moral  philosophy 
over  against  the  sciences  of  external  nature,  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  latter.1  Milton,  however,  seems  to  have  had 
in  mind  the  study  of  nature  as  a  propadeutic  to  the  study  of 
conduct  and  religion,  as  well  as  a  preparation  for  efficiency 
and  usefulness  in  the  varied  activities  of  life. 

It  may  readily  be  supposed  that  the  schools  set  up  by 
dissenting  clergymen,  under  the  most  unfavorable  circum- 
stances, were  little  like  the  academy  proposed  by  Milton. 
Yet  we  may  see  now  and  then  in  the  history  of  those 

1  Lives  of  the  English  Poets :  Milton. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  161 

schools  some  line  which  recalls  the  grand  scheme  of  the 
Tractate.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  poet's  ideal 
academy  is  related  to  those  very  humble  and  proscribed 
academies,  however  much  the  family  likeness  may  have 
been  obscured  in  the  realization.  It  is  not  improbable,  too, 
that  Milton's  use  of  the  word  academy  may  have  been 
partly  responsible  for  the  general  employment  of  the  term 
by  English  dissenters  to  designate  the  schools  which  they 
erected. 

The  history  of  these  schools  goes  back  to  the  Protectorate. 
Oliver  Cromwell  undertook  the  establishment  of  a  college  or 
university,  to  be  supported  by  the  sequestrated  funds  of  the 
episcopal  see  of  Durham.  Kichard  Frankland  was  called  to 
preside  over  this  institution.  Like  so  many  other  brave 
beginnings  made  by  the  Protector,  this  was  brought  speedily 
to  an  end  by  the  Restoration.  Frankland  then  retired  to  a 
small  estate  which  he  possessed  at  the  village  of  Rathmill, 
near  Giggleswick,  and  there,  in  1665,  opened  a  private  school, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  the  first  of  the  academies  of  the 
dissenters. 

Under  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  as  renewed  in  1662,  nearly 
two  thousand  English  clergymen  were  driven  from  their 
parishes  as  nonconformists.  This  was  not  far 'from  one-fifth 
of  the  whole  number  of  rectors  and  vicars  in  the  English 
Church.1  These  dispossessed  clergymen  had,  many  of  them, 
been  educated  at  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge. 
Being  deprived  of  their  livings,  it  is  not  strange  that  a 
goodly  number  turned  to  teaching  as  a  means  of  gaining  a 
livelihood. 

But  other  considerations  influenced  them  to  the  same  end. 
Nonconformists  were  excluded  from  the  English  public 
schools  and  universities.  In  the  midst  of  educational  ad- 
vantages among  the  best  in  the  world,  the  dissenting  bodies 
were  threatened  with  the  very  danger  that  beset  the  colonists 
in  far-off  New  England,  the  danger  that  learning  would 
be  buried  in  the  graves  of  their  forefathers.  Their  minis- 

*  See  GREEN,  History  of  the  English  people,  bk.  VIII.,  eh.  1. 
11 


162         THE  MAKING   Of  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

ters  of  succeeding  generations  would  not  be  men  bred  at 
universities ;  and  their  young  men  destined  for  other  pro- 
fessions would  have  no  fair  preparation  for  competing  with 
practitioners  who  were  communicants  of  the  established 
church.  A  high  sense  of  duty  to  their  fellow-sectarians, 
then,  moved  these  ministers  to  offer  the  best  substitute  they 
could  provide  for  the  instruction  of  the  higher  schools. 

The  Act  of  Uniformity,  and  the  Five  Mile  Act  which 
followed,  put  all  possible  hindrance  in  the  way  of  their 
undertaking.  Any  schoolmaster  who  should  venture  to  give 
instruction  before  he  should  have  received  a  license  from  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities,  was  threatened  with  imprison- 
ment; and  that  license  might  be  obtained  only  after  the 
most  solemn  and  explicit  declaration  of  conformity  to  the 
English  Church.  These  stringent  provisions  were  only  par- 
tially relaxed  by  the  Toleration  Act  of  1689,  and  it  was  an 
uncertain,  half-outlawed  existence  which  was  led  by  the 
schools  of  the  ejected  ministers.  Yet  these  private  and 
obscure  academies  multiplied,  and  the  work  which  they 
accomplished  was  undoubtedly  a  public  service  of  no  small 
importance. 

In  spite  of  obstacles  such  as  these,  Frankland  continued 
his  career  as  tutor  for  the  term  of  thirty-three  years.  It  is 
said  that  three  hundred  students  came  under  his  instruction. 
John  Bowes,  afterwards  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  and 
Nicholas  Sanderson,  the  blind  mathematician,  who  was 
made  professor  at  Cambridge,  were  among  the  number. 
The  successor  of  Frankland,  the  Eev.  Timothy  Jollie,  had 
also  been  a  student  in  the  academy.  He  is  spoken  of  in 
terms  of  praise  for  his  eloquence  and  the  attractiveness  of 
his  personal  character,  but  some  little  apology  is  offered  for 
his  lack  of  extensive  learning. 

We  have  information  respecting  upwards  of  thirty  other 
institutions  of  this  class  that  were  opened  before  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution.  They  are  associated  with  the  names  of 
eminent  men,  some  of  them  the  very  saints  of  English  non- 
conformity, and  others  among  the  foremost  churchmen  of 
the  time. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  163 

There  was  an  academy  kept  by  John  Woodhouse  at 
Sheriff  hales,  in  Shropshire.  Mr.  Woodhouse  must  have 
been  one  of  those  men  of  the  seventeenth  century  who  were 
possessed  of  a  mighty  love  for  knowledge  of  many  kinds, 
and  who  loved  also  to  impart  to  others  what  they  had  them- 
selves acquired.  We  are  told  that  he  lectured  at  Sheriff- 
hales  on  logic,  anatomy,  mathematics,  natural  philosophy, 
ethics,  and  rhetoric,  besides  directing  the  studies  of  his 
students  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  in  English  com- 
position. He  marked  out  theological  reading  for  those  who 
were  destined  for  the  ministry,  and  read  once  a  week  an 
appropriate  lecture  to  those  preparing  for  the  practice  of  law. 
In  addition,  "  all  the  classes  were  exercised  at  times  in  land 
surveying,  dialling,  making  almanacks,  and  dissecting  ani- 
mals." l  Eobert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  and  Henry  St. 
John,  Viscount  Bolingbroke,  were  among  his  students. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  the  earlier  academies  was  that 
of  the  Rev.  Charles  Morton,  at  Newington  Green.  Mr. 
Morton  was  an  accomplished  gentleman,  "  as  far  from  pride 
as  ignorance,"  according  to  one  who  knew  him  well.  He 
drew  up  for  his  students  a  compendium  of  logic,  a  system 
of  politics,  and  rules  for  the  guidance  of  candidates  for  the 
ministry.  He  "  Read  all  his  Lectures,  gave  all  his  Systems, 
whether  of  Phylosophy  or  Divinity,  in  English  ;  had  all  his 
Declaimings,  and  Disertations  in  the  English  Tongue."  It 
is  Daniel  Defoe  who  gives  this  account.  His  schooling 
was  got  in  Mr.  Morton's  academy,  and  when  he  speaks  in 
adverse  criticism  of  such  institutions,  he  excepts  the  school 
of  his  former  master.  "  Tho'  the  Scholars  from  that  Place 
were  not  Distitute  in  the  Languages,"  he  continues,  "  yet  it 
is  observ'd  of  them,  they  were  by  this  made  Masters  of  the 
English  Tongue  and  more  of  them  excelled  in  that  Par- 
ticular, than  of  any  School  at  that  Time." 2 

Another  famous  pupil  of  Mr.  Morton's  was  Samuel 
Wesley,  the  father  of  John  and  Charles.  Samuel  Wesley, 

1  Quarterly  Journal  of  Ed.,  I.,  p.  51. 

2  Present  state  of  parties,  p.  319. 


164          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

after  leaving  the  academy,  became  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  in  the  year  1704  he  entered  upon  a 
bitter  warfare  against  the  educational  system  of  the  dis- 
senters. His  three  pamphlets  upon  this  subject  called  out 
two  in  reply  by  Samuel  Palmer.  The  controversy  brought 
both  the  excellences  and  the  defects  of  the  then  existing 
academies  out  into  the  full  light  of  day. 

There  is  a  little  more  that  should  be  told  of  Mr.  Morton. 
He  was  greatly  harassed  in  his  educational  activity  by  pro- 
ceedings against  him  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts.  One 
favorite  method  of  attack  by  those  who  conducted  such  pro- 
ceedings was  to  accuse  the  defendant  of  having  violated  the 
oath  that  he  had  taken  at  the  university,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  conferring  of  his  academic  degree.  There  were  others 
who  shared  this  difficulty  with  Mr.  Morton ;  and  to  settle 
the  case  of  conscience  which  was  involved,  he  drew  up  a 
careful  dissertation  upon  the  obligation  of  such  oaths.  Since 
the  times,  back  in  the  middle  ages,  when  the  two  universi- 
ties had  been  troubled  with  the  secession  of  students,  some 
to  Northampton,  some  to  Stamford,  candidates  for  degrees 
had  been  required  to  swear  most  solemnly  that  they  would 
not  read  lectures  as  in  a  university  at  any  other  place  in 
England  than  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge.  The  form  of  oath 
differed  a  little  in  the  two  institutions,  and  the  meaning  was 
certainly  open  to  dispute.  Mr.  Morton  maintained  the 
thesis  that  the  oath  debarred  no  one  from  lecturing  upon 
subjects  taught  in  the  university,  but  only  from  engaging  in 
the  exercises  connected  with  the  granting  of  degrees.  By 
this  argument  he  helped  himself  and  his  brethren  over  a 
troublesome  point. 

But  he  finally  grew  tired  of  incessant  bickering  and  litiga- 
tion, and  in  1685  emigrated  to  Massachusetts.  In  New  Eng- 
land he  was  held  in  high  esteem.  He  was  chosen  to  an 
important  pastorate  and  is  said  to  have  been  made  vice-presi- 
dent of  Harvard  College.1  He  died  in  this  country  in  1697. 

1 1  am  not  sure  of  the  correctness  of  this  statement,  which  commonly 
appears  in  the  accounts  of  Mr.  Morton's  career. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  165 

There  was  another  academy  at  Newington,  under  the 
direction  of  Theophilus  Gale.  This  gentleman  had  a  great 
reputation  for  scholarship,  based  on  a  book,  The  court  of  the 
Gentiles,  of  which  he  was  the  author.  His  successor  in  the 
academy  was  Thomas  Rowe,  who  had  the  proud  distinction 
of  having  Isaac  Watts  among  his  students.  This  fact  is 
worthy  of  more  than  passing  notice ;  for  there  is  perhaps  no 
one  name  more  truly  representative  of  the  eighteenth-cen- 
tury academies  than  is  the  name  of  Dr.  Watts.  This  gentle 
hymn-writer  was  never  an  academy  instructor,  though  he 
served  for  four  years  as  a  private  tutor.  But  his  introduc- 
tion to  astronomy  was  widely  used  in  the  academies  of  both 
England  and  America,  his  text-book  in  logic  was  given 
an  important  place  even  in  the  English  universities,  and  his 
little  work  on  The  improvement  of  the  mind  was  a  favorite 
academy  text  for  two  or  three  generations. 

Watts  entered  Mr.  Howe's  academy  in  1690,  at  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  remained  there  for  four  years.  He  was 
already  proficient  in  Latin,  which  he  had  begun  to  study  at 
the  age  of  four.  In  the  academy  he  was  known  as  a 
student  of  unusual  character  and  attainments.  His  tutor 
seems  to  have  been  well  worthy  of  the  charge  of  so  promis- 
ing a  youth ;  and  the  pupil  honored  his  master  in  after 
years  with  a  poem  "To  the  much  honored  Mr.  Thomas 
Rowe,  the  director  of  my  youthful  studies."  It  was  the 
master's  freedom  from  the  trammels  of  tradition  which  the 
poet  remembered  with  especial  gratitude  —  not  exactly  what 
one  would  expect  from  Isaac  Watts,  nor  think  of  in  connec- 
tion with  a  nonconformist  school.  Yet,  in  a  mild  way,  this 
was  highly  characteristic  of  both.  What  with  his  broad 
sympathy  and  liberal  tastes,  Watts  was  charged  in  his  life- 
time with  Arminianism  and  with  the  still  more  deadly  heresy 
of  Arianism.  But  whatever  doubts  may  have  been  felt  as  to 
his  orthodoxy,  he  was  dearly  loved  by  all  manner  of  people, 
Anglicans,  Calvinistic  dissenters,  and  heretics  as  well.1  So 

1  Dr.  Johnson  held  him  up  for  imitation,  "all  but  his  non-conformity." 
"Few  books,"  said  the  Doctor,  "have  been  perused  by  me  with  greater 


166          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

he  spread  a  genial  and  wholesome  influence,  which  did  not 
end  with  his  life  nor  with  the  century  to  which  he  belonged. 

His  literary  taste  was  refined  and  he  was  famed  for  his 
wit.  He  was  not  of  the  highest  order  of  intellect,  and  in  his 
philosophical  writing  he  leaned  on  other  men  —  on  Locke 
and  Le  Clerc  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  Yet  it  was  no  small 
service  to  make  available  for  use  in  the  schools  those  con- 
ceptions which  were  giving  new  direction  to  the  intellectual 
life  of  England.  And  it  was  through  books  like  those  of 
Watts  and  schools  like  the  academies,  that  the  higher 
thought  of  the  time  filtered  down  into  the  middle  classes 
of  society,  which  were  slowly  coming  into  prominence  in 
the  life  of  the  English  nation. 

Aside  from  theological  doctrine,  the  real  intellectual 
stimulus  of  the  eighteenth-century  academies  seems  to 
have  come  largely  from  John  Locke  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton ; 
and  while  the  thought  of  these  master  minds  oftenest 
reached  the  schools  through  the  writings  of  Watts  and  other 
popularizers,  there  are  other  instances  in  which  we  find  the 
original  masterpieces  freely  studied  in  the  academies.  The 
deeply  religious  character  of  both  Locke  and  Newton,  and 
the  fact  that,  though  churchmen,  they  were  both  earnest 
advocates  of  a  large  toleration,  commended  them  to  the  men 
concerned  with  the  building  up  of  academies ;  and  the  wide 
intellectual  hospitality  which  they  themselves  displayed  and 
their  success  in  enlarging  the  range  of  human  thought  and 
knowledge,  appealed  to  academy  men  on  the  side  of  their 
intellectual  tastes.  So  the  influence  of  these  two  friends 
is  found  back  of  the  academy  movement  in  successive 
stages  of  its  progress. 

In  view  of  this  fact,  it  might  be  expected  that  Locke's 
work  on  education  would  have  become  the  pedagogical  hand- 
book of  academy  masters.  The  book  was  indeed  widely 
read,  and  it  seems  to  have  had  some  influence  on  pedagogic 

pleasure  than  his  Improvement  of  the  mind. "  He  gives  Watts  the  credit  of 
having  "taught  the  Dissenters  to  court  attention  by  the  graces  of  language." 
Lives  of  the  poets :  Waits. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  167 

usage.  But  it  was  not  an  age  in  which  educational  theory 
passed  readily  over  into  educational  practice.  The  acade- 
mies had  grooves  of  their  own.  Their  tradition  of  teaching 
was  not  ready  to  yield  to  newly  promulgated  principles  of 
teaching.1 

Keturning  to  Mr.  Kowe's  academy,  we  may  note  that 
among  the  schoolmates  of  Isaac  Watts  were  John  Hughes, 
the  poet  and  dramatist,  and  Josiah  Hort,  afterwards  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam.  It  was  said,  moreover,  of  Mr.  Kowe  that 
"to  his  exertions  as  a  tutor,  the  dissenters  are  indebted 
for  a  race  of  divines,  who  filled  their  churches  with  great 
reputation."  2 

There  was  another  academy,  at  Gloucester,  kept  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Jones,  which  calls  for  special  mention ;  for  it 
was  here  that  two  who  in  after  years  attained  great  eminence 
in  the  Church  of  England,  were  fellow  students  and  close 
friends.  One  of  these  was  Joseph  Butler,  who  became 
Bishop  of  Durham,  and  wrote  the  famous  Analogy ;  the 
other  was  Thomas  Seeker,  who,  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
was  one  of  the  chief  contributors  to  the  controversy  respect- 
ing the  establishment  of  a  colonial  episcopate. 

Samuel  Jones  was  probably  born  in  America,  for  his 
father  was  pastor  of  a  congregation  in  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  educated  in  Holland,  at  the  university  of  Leyden,  and 
must  have  opened  his  academy  at  Gloucester  soon  after 
leaving  the  university.  The  institution  was  so  successful 
that  it  was  soon  moved  to  larger  quarters,  in  Tewkesbury. 
Isaac  Watts  was  in  some  way  concerned  with  procuring 
young  Seeker's  admission  to  this  academy;  and  Seeker 

1  "  Who  that  reads  at  all  has  not  read  Milton's  'Tractate  on  Education  ;' 
and  also  Locke's :  and  who  having  read  them,  does  not  speak  of  them  in  terms 
of  the  highest  commendation  ?  Yet,  how  little  has  either  the  one  or  the 
other  contributed  to  improve  the  national  system  of  education  ! "  BOUCHEB, 
Discourse  on  American  education  (1773).  This,  to  be  sure,  is  the  testimony  of 
a  colonial  churchman,  and  does  not  relate  directly  to  the  dissenters'  academies 
of  the  mother  country.  See  also  the  interesting  notes  on  Locke's  influence  in 
QUINCY,  Life  of  Josiah  Quincy,  pp.  19-20. 

3  WILSON,  Dissenting  churches,  III.,  p.  171. 


168          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

wrote  Watts  a  letter,  in  1711,  which  gives  us  some  insight 
into  the  management  of  the  institution.1  Mr.  Jones  is 
described  in  this  letter  as  a  very  courteous  gentleman,  "  of 
real  piety,  great  learning,  and  an  agreeable  temper."  He  was 
found  always  ready  to  enter  into  conversation  upon  any 
useful  topic.  He  encouraged  the  students  to  offer  objections 
to  his  opinions,  even  during  the  progress  of  the  regular 
lectures. 

The  course  of  study  was  about  four  years  in  length. 
There  were  sixteen  students  at  the  time  referred  to,  some 
of  them  mature  men,  or  such  as  had  already  studied  at 
other  academies.  They  were  obliged  to  rise  at  five  o'clock 
every  morning,  and  to  speak  only  in  Latin,  "  except  when 
below  stairs  amongst  the  family."  The  morning  session  was 
two  hours  in  length,  and  that  of  the  afternoon  a  little 
longer.  The  morning  was  devoted  to  logic  and  Hebrew; 
the  afternoon  began  with  a  critical  lecture  upon  the  history 
and  language  of  the  Scriptures,  which  had  been  undertaken 
at  Mr.  Watts's  suggestion.  This  was  followed  by  the  reading 
of  a  chapter  in  the  Greek  Testament;  and  after  that,  mathe- 
matics. This  programme  was  varied  on  Wednesdays,  when 
Dionysius'  Periegesis  was  read  in  the  morning,  with  notes, 
chiefly  geographical,  and  no  lecture  was  given  in  the  after- 
noon. Saturday  afternoon,  too,  there  was  a  change,  those 
who  had  finished  logic  having  a  thesis,  and  the  others  being 
free.  At  some  time  not  specified,  Isocrates  and  Terence 
were  read,  each  twice  a  week,  and  a  class  was  to  be  formed 
for  the  study  of  Jewish  antiquities. 

Heereboort's  logic  was  studied ;  but  it  was  supplemented 
with  explanations  and  corrections  by  the  tutor,  and  the 
reading  of  "  far  the  greater  part  of  Mr.  Locke's  Essay,  and 
the  Art  of  Thinking."  Short  dictations  were  given,  and  at 
the  beginning  of  each  lecture  hour  the  class  recited  on 
both  the  previous  lecture  and  the  reading.  It  was  Mr. 
Jones's  custom  to  refer  his  students  to  the  chief  authorities 

1  This  letter  is  reproduced  in  Isaac  Watts  ;  his  life  and  writings,  his  hornet 
and  friends. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  169 

upon  the  various  subjects  studied,  and  they  seem  to  have 
read  somewhat  widely  in  preparation  for  their  recitations. 

In  Hebrew  about  twenty  verses  were  assigned  daily  from 
some  of  the  easier  parts  of  the  Bible,  and  each  member  of 
the  class  was  required  to  read  two  of  these  verses  and  turn 
them  into  Greek,  without  knowing  in  advance  which  verses 
would  fall  to  his  lot.  In  mathematics  the  class  had  gone 
through  such  portions  of  algebra  and  proportion  as  were 
commonly  taught,  together  with  the  first  six  books  of  Euclid, 
The  next  class  was  expected  to  do  more  than  this.1 

We  look  in  vain  for  some  sign  of  out-door  exercise  in  this 
programme.  There  was  free  time,  it  would  seem,  and  sports 
may  have  been  indulged  in.  But  if  so,  they  were  beneath 
the  notice  of  this  eighteen-year-old  divinity  student.  It  is 
much  more  likely  that  it  would  have  been  thought  unbe- 
coming in  prospective  ministers  to  take  any  sort  of  exercise 
at  all,  beyond  a  formal  walk  of  short  duration. 

Other  famous  academy  instructors  of  the  earlier  days  were 
Mr.  Doolittle,  an  Oxford  graduate,  who  taught  in  Isling- 
ton, and  had  Matthew  Henry  among  his  pupils  ;  Joshua 
Oldfield,  who  had  studied  at  Cambridge  and  won  approval 
from  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  who  taught  at  Coventry,  at 
Southwark  in  London,  and  at  Hoxton  :  many  of  his  pupils 
became  men  of  mark  ;  Samuel  Cradock,  another  Oxford 
man,  who  taught  at  Wickhambrook,  in  Suffolk ;  and  Mat- 
thew Warren,  who  had  an  academy  at  Taunton. 

But  perhaps  the  most  famous  of  the  eighteenth-century 
academies  was  that  opened  at  Northampton,  in  1729,  by 
Philip  Doddridge,  and  presided  over  by  him  for  twenty-two 
years.  Dr.  Doddridge  was  one  of  the  most  notable  dissent- 
ing ministers  of  the  time  and  his  academy  naturally  exer- 
cised a  very  wide  influence.  Before  entering  upon  the 

1  According  to  his  biographer,  Bishop  Porteus,  Seeker  at  nineteen  had 
made  considerable  progress  in  Greek,  Latin,  French,  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and 
Syriac ;  in  geography,  logic,  algebra,  geometry,  and  conic  sections ;  and  had 
taken  a  course  of  lectures  on  Jewish  antiquities.  The  works  of  Thomai 
Seeker,  I. 


170          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

undertaking,  he  had  prepared  himself  for  it  with  the  utmost 
care,  reading  everything  he  could  find  upon  the  subject  of 
education,  and  availing  himself  especially  of  such  assistance 
as  could  he  got  from  the  writings  of  Isaac  Watts,  and  from 
notes  on  the  lectures  of  Samuel  Jones,  loaned  to  him  in 
manuscript  by  former  students  of  that  great  teacher. 

His  school  had  on  an  average  about  thirty-four  students, 
the  most  of  whom  lived  under  one  roof,  with  their  tutor. 
It  soon  became  necessary  to  employ  a  regular  assistant,  who 
had  charge  of  the  younger  boys,  or  in  the  Doctor's  absence 
managed  the  whole  institution.  The  Northampton  students 
did  not  begin  the  day  so  early  as  those  at  Tewkesbury.  Six 
o'clock  was  their  rising  hour  in  summer  and  seven  in  win- 
ter. Those  who  were  not  on  time  must  pay  a  fine  in 
money,  as  also  any  who  were  away  from  home  after  ten  at 
night.  At  morning  worship,  some  of  the  students  read  a 
chapter  of  the  Old  Testament  from  Hebrew  into  English ; 
at  evening  worship  a  chapter  of  the  New  Testament  was 
read  from  Greek  into  English.  The  Doctor  commented 
on  these  passages.  It  is  hinted  that  at  the  morning  exer- 
cise the  young  men  sometimes  slipped  in  an  English  Bible 
along  with  the  Hebrew  text,  and  thereby  greatly  facilitated 
their  translations. 

Students  were  expected  to  learn  Kich's  shorthand,  and 
use  it  in  taking  notes  on  lectures  and  making  extracts 
from  the  books  which  they  consulted.  In  the  first  two 
years  of  the  course,  much  attention  was  paid  to  the  reading 
of  classics  in  Latin  and  Greek,  on  which  the  students  were 
supposed  to  have  made  a  good  beginning  before  entering 
the  academy.  Doddridge  insisted  more  strongly,  as  time 
went  on,  upon  the  importance  of  classical  training  for  future 
ministers.  In  the  earlier  years,  he  had  sometimes  admitted 
to  his  school  young  men  of  twenty-three  or  even  older,  who 
had  made  but  little  preparation  in  the  Latin  and  Greek,  but 
gave  decided  promise  of  usefulness.  Later,  however,  he  was 
less  inclined  to  such  leniency,  and  he  began  before  his 
death  to  make  arrangements  for  the  preliminary  training  of 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  171 

promising  youth  who  had  not  had  good  opportunities  for 
classical  study.  Not  infrequently,  too,  he  set  some  of  his 
more  advanced  students  at  work  helping  such  of  the  begin- 
ners as  were  backward,  especially  in  their  Greek.  Students 
were  given  an  opportunity  of  studying  French.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  school  was  favorable  to  a  wide  literary  cul- 
ture. A  library  of  several  thousand  volumes  was  provided, 
and  students  were  given  advice  and  encouragement  in  the 
use  of  books,  including  the  masterpieces  of  general  English 
literature. 

Other  subjects  studied  during  the  first  year  of  the  course 
were  logic,  rhetoric,  geography,  and  metaphysics.  Dr.  Watts's 
text-book  in  logic  was  used.  The  instruction  in  rhetoric  is 
said  to  have  been  slight ;  that  in  geography  better ;  that  in 
metaphysics  only  an  outline,  preparatory  to  later  studies. 
Geometry  and  algebra  were  also  presented,  in  lectures,  fol- 
lowed by  trigonometry,  conic  sections,  and  celestial  mechan- 
ics. The  last-named  study  dealt  chiefly  with  propositions 
from  the  works  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton.  There  were  studies 
also  in  "  natural  philosophy  .  .  .  illustrated  by  a  neat  and 
pretty  large  apparatus."  Natural  and  civil  history  were 
barely  touched  by  the  way.  High  praise  is  given  to  the 
instruction  offered  in  anatomy.  Jewish  antiquities  and  eccle- 
siastical history  were  also  studied.  One  day  every  week 
was  set  apart  for  public  exercises,  orations,  homilies,  and 
the  like,  and  great  attention  was  paid  to  these  performances. 
But  the  head  and  front  of  the  whole  system  of  instruction 
was  Dr.  Doddridge's  System  of  Divinity.  The  account 
which  is  given  of  the  pains  bestowed  on  the  perfecting  of 
this  system,  and  of  the  free  discussion  of  disputed  points 
which  was  encouraged  in  the  course  of  the  Doctor's  instruc- 
tion, makes  a  very  happy  impression. 

It  would  appear  from  what  has  been  said  that  this  was 
simply  a  school  for  the  training  of  ministers.  Such,  how- 
ever, was  not  the  case.  Ministerial  training  was  undoubt- 
edly the  uppermost  thought  in  the  conduct  of  the  academy, 
but  s£u(Jents  intended  for  other  vocations  were  also  in 


172          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

attendance  here,  as  at  other  academies.  Dr.  Doddridge 
expressed  the  belief  that  lay  and  ministerial  students  might 
better  receive  instruction  in  separate  schools,  but  he  never 
acted  upon  his  own  suggestion.1 

Dr.  Ashworth  was  the  successor  of  Dr.  Doddridge  in  the 
management  of  this  academy,  and  under  him  it  was  moved  to 
Daventry.  Here  one  of  the  most  distinguished  pupils  was 
Joseph  Priestley,  who  became  famous  in  after  years  both  as 
a  physicist  and  as  a  Unitarian  theologian.  Priestley  was 
himself  for  some  years  instructor  in  an  academy  at  War- 
rington.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
and  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  died  in  1804.  He  was  at  one  time  called  to 
a  professorship  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  which, 
however,  he  declined. 

A  school  of  somewhat  different  sort  should  be  mentioned 
here  —  that  at  Kingswood,  the  head  of  a  long  line  of  Meth- 
odist educational  institutions.  It  was  at  Kingswood  that 
George  Whitefield  began  his  career  of  out-door  preaching, 
early  in  the  year  1739 ;  and  a  few  weeks  after  this  begin- 
ning, he  secured  the  first  contributions  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  school  for  the  Kingswood  colliers.  The  move- 
ment, however,  soon  passed  out  of  Whitefield's  hands,  and 
was  taken  up  by  John  Wesley.  The  school  was  opened  in 
1740.  At  the  first  it  was  of  a  very  elementary  character; 
but  in  1748  it  was  enlarged  and  raised  to  a  higher  rank, 
though  an  elementary  school,  too,  was  still  carried  on  for 
many  years.  The  remodelled  institution  was  a  boarding 
school,  and  was  "  for  above  half  a  century  Methodism's  only 
college."  2 

There  is  much  that  is  interesting  in  the  story  of  the 
changes  which  came  over  these  institutions  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  nineteenth  century, 
too,  with  its  long  record  of  relaxation  of  ecclesiastical  limi- 

1  KIPPIS,  Life  of  Doddridge,  passim. 

a  The  story  of  this  school  may  be  found  in  TYERMAN,  Lift  of  John 
Wesley,  L,  pp.  269-270  ;  II.  and  III.  passim. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  173 

tations,  has  made  great  transformations,  and  the  time  has 
even  come  when  at  Oxford,  nonconformity  has  its  represen- 
tative college.  But  it  is  no  part  of  our  present  purpose  to 
follow  the  course  of  this  history  beyond  our  colonial  period. 
It  may  not  be  amiss  to  express  the  hope  that  our  English 
brethren,  who  have  done  much  excellent  work  of  late  in  the 
history  of  education,  will  give  us  a  full  account  of  an  in- 
stitution which  stands  in  such  close  relations  with  our  own 
educational  development  as  does  the  old  academy. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  of  these  academies,  that  while 
endeavoring  to  keep  alive  the  tradition  of  scholarship  among 
the  dissenting  bodies,  they  represented,  in  more  ways  than 
one,  a  revolt  against  tradition.  They  not  only  undertook  to 
give  instruction  in  the  studies  commonly  pursued  in  the 
English  universities,  but  they  reached  out  after  new  learn- 
ing in  the  many  forms  in  which  it  was  then  opening  up, 
whether  in  or  out  of  the  universities.  This  characteristic  is 
set  forth  by  Isaac  Watts,  in  the  verses  addressed  to  Mr. 
Kowe,  which  have  already  been  mentioned. 

The  poem  is  entitled  Free  Philosophy. 

"  Custom,  that  tyranness  of  fools, 
That  leads  the  learned  round  the  schools 
In  magick  chains  of  forms  and  rules  ! 
My  Genius  storms  her  throne; 
No  more,  ye  slaves,  with  awe  profound 
Beat  the  dull  track  nor  dance  the  round ; 
Loose  hands,  and  quit  the  enchanted  ground : 
Knowledge  invites  us  each  alone." 

No  doubt  Watts  wrote  a  good  deal  of  verse  that  was  very 
much  better  than  this,  but  as  the  expression  of  a  new  spirit 
in  education  it  is  a  noteworthy  production.  He  continues : 

"I  hate  these  shackles  of  the  mind 
Forg'd  by  the  haughty  wise  ; 
Souls  were  not  born  to  be  confin'd, 
And  led  like  Samson  blind  and  bound, 
But  when  his  native  strength  he  found 
He  well  aveng'd  his  eyes." 


174          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

"  I  love  thy  gentle  iDfluence,  Howe  ; 
Thy  gentle  influence,  like  the  sun, 
Only  dissolves  the  frozen  snow, 
Then  bids  our  thoughts  like  rivers  flow, 
And  chuse  the  channels  where  they  run." 

Then  follows  a  burst  of  exultation,  the  free  expression  of 
a  spirit  that 

"Will  thro'  all  Nature  fly; 

Swift  I  survey  the  globe  around, 

Dive  to  the  centre  thro'  the  solid  ground, 

Or  travel  o'er  the  sky." 

It  was  impossible  that  such  feeble  institutions  as  the 
academies  should  head  a  revolt  like  this  without  laying 
themselves  open  to  all  manner  of  criticism.  Much  of  their 
instruction  was  superficial,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Their 
tutors  were  bitten  with  the  zeal  for  many  knowledges,  when 
their  facilities  for  carrying  on  any  line  of  instruction  were 
wofully  cramped  and  mean.  The  schools  were  generally 
lacking  in  libraries  and  other  appliances.  They  lacked  the 
scholastic  atmosphere  of  the  older  seats  of  learning.  Their 
greatest  imperfection,  according  to  Defoe,  was  "  want  of  con- 
versation ; "  which  might  have  guarded  their  students  against 
the  danger  of  pedantry. 

The  more  favored  institutions  among  them  had  an  offset 
for  these  deficiencies  in  the  personal  excellence  of  their 
instructors,  some  of  whom  must  have  been  rare  teachers, 
learned,  catholic  in  their  tastes,  and  inspiring  in  their  inter- 
course with  young  men.  There  is  something  that  wins  re- 
spect and  interest  in  the  whole-hearted  way  that  men  like 
Woodhouse  and  Morton  and  Doddridge  gave  themselves 
free  range  over  the  fields  of  knowledge,  regardless  of  scho- 
lastic traditions ;  and  led  their  students  to  an  acquaintance- 
ship, not  only  with  things  human  and  divine,  but  with 
things  of  the  natural  world  as  well.  Perhaps  it  would  not 
be  too  much  to  say  that  there  was  something  of  the  spirit 
of  John  Milton  in  all  of  this  activity. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  175 

But  the  students  too  often  came  to  the  academies  without 
sufficient  preparation,  from  homes  in  which  there  were  no 
traditions  of  culture ;  and  too  often  they  found  there  only 
the  narrowest  sort  of  instruction  in  the  classics,  and  in  the 
theology  and  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  dissenters.  The 
ordinary  course  of  instruction  is  said  to  have  been  five  years 
in  length,  or  in  more  fortunate  cases  and  especially  at 
a  later  period,  six  years.  Defoe  entered  Mr.  Morton's 
academy  at  fourteen,  and  is  believed  to  have  continued 
there  for  five  years.  But  the  poverty  of  many  students  led 
to  their  being  hurried  through  in  only  three  years.  Many 
young  men,  "  fund-bred,"  as  Defoe  called  them,  were  sup- 
ported through  their  academy  course  by  small  scholarships 
which  benevolent  persons  had  provided.  Then  they  rushed 
off,  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  to  accept  a  call,  unwisely 
extended,  to  the  pastorate  of  some  feeble  congregation,  or  to 
make  way  for  a  successor  in  their  scholarship. 

It  may  very  well  be  that  Benjamin  Franklin  had  been 
interested  in  the  idea  of  an  academy  as  suggested  by  Defoe, 
in  the  Essay  upon  Projects  and  others  of  his  writings.  Defoe 
touched  the  public  life  of  England  at  many  points,  and 
the  practical  sense  and  far  reach  of  many  of  his  observa- 
tions would  appeal  strongly  to  such  a  man  as  Franklin. 
The  varied  suggestiveness  of  the  Essay  upon  Projects  in  par- 
ticular is  such  as  might  well  make  it  the  seed-corn  of  prac- 
tical undertakings.1 

But  we  are  not  limited  to  the  supposition  that  Defoe 
was  the  only  channel  through  which  a  knowledge  of  the 
English  academies  reached  America.  The  men  who  were 
concerned  in  the  conduct  of  those  institutions  were  often 
such  as  were  in  touch  with  certain  aspects  of  colonial  life. 
Charles  Morton,  as  we  have  seen,  spent  his  later  years  in 
New  England.  The  word  academy  in  its  English  sense  must 

1  It  should  be  said  that  the  academies  of  which  the  Essay  speaks  are  all  of 
them  special  institutions.  No  suggestion  is  offered  respecting  the  ordinary 
schooling  of  young  men.  Defoe's  account  of  Mr.  Morton's  academy  appears 
in  The  present  state  of  parties. 


176          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

have  been  familiar  in  that  region  by  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Both  of  the  Mathers  used  the  word, 
applying  it  to  the  New  England  colleges.  Judge  Sewall  and 
Secretary  Addington  applied  it  to  the  proposed  college  at 
New  Haven.  The  connection  was  particularly  close  between 
the  men  of  the  eighteenth-century  academies  in  England  and 
the  men  of  the  Great  Awakening  in  America.  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards wrote  his  Faithful  Narrative- at  the  request  of  Isaac 
Watts  and  Dr.  Guyse  of  London,  who  added  to  it  a  preface 
of  their  own.  In  his  TJwugJits  on  the  Revival,  a  little  later, 
Edwards  called  attention  to  Dr.  Doddridge's  account  of  the 
religious  influences  at  work  in  his  academy  at  the  English 
Northampton,  and  recommended  that  people  of  means  in  this 
country  should  proceed  to  establish  schools.  Whitefield,  too, 
as  he  went  up  and  down  the  country,  carried  with  him  a 
knowledge  of  and  interest  in  the  academies  of  both  England 
and  America.  He  spoke  with  evident  pride  of  the  fact  that 
Franklin's  academy  was  housed  in  the  building  originally 
erected  to  accommodate  the  congregations  which  flocked  to 
hear  his  own  preaching. 

The  earlier  academy  movement  in  this  country,  prior  to 
the  Eevolution,  belongs  to  the  middle  colonies.  This  was 
a  time  of  experiment,  in  which  the  real  character  of  the 
American  institution  was  as  yet  undetermined.  It  was  not 
until  the  colonies  had  set  up  for  themselves  that  this  type 
became  clearly  marked.  The  movement  from  that  time  on 
centred  in  New  England,  the  leaders  and  models  being  the 
two  Phillips  academies,  at  Andover  and  Exeter.  No  clear 
evidence  has  been  brought  forth  which  would  settle  for  us 
the  question  whence  these  two  institutions  got  their  name 
or  their  inspiration.1  In  the  absence  of  such  evidence,  it 
seems  as  likely  that  the  Phillips  family  were  influenced  by 

1  The  designation  of  the  Andover  institution  was  evidently  the  subject  of 
considerable  discussion  before  it  was  finally  decided  to  call  it  an  academy. 
Judge  Phillips  refers  vaguely,  in  one  of  the  papers  that  he  left,  to  "the  method 
of  the  ancients."  (Of.  PARK,  Earlier  annals,  pp.  12-14.)  He  may  have  had 
some  thought  of  the  original  Academy  of  Plato. 


THE  ENGLISH  ACADEMIES  .        177 

knowledge  of  the  academies  of  Old  England  as  that  they 
followed  the  lead  of  the  Pennsylvania  institutions,  and  not 
at  all  improbable  that  both  groups  were  known  and  con- 
sidered by  them.  But  the  New  England  academies  were 
very  different  from  their  prototypes  over  seas;  and  the 
experiments  in  the  middle  states  may  be  regarded  as  point- 
ing forward  to  this  later  American  type.1 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 


We  have  a  convenient  issue  of  the  Tractate  on  education  in  OSCAR 
BROWNING'S  edition :  Cambridge  University  Press,  1890,  pp.  43.  From 
the  same  press  has  come  an  excellent  edition  of  LOCKE'S  Some  thoughts 
concerning  education,  prepared  by  Mr.  k.  H.  QUICK  :  Cambridge,  1880, 
pp.  240. 

The  accounts  of  the  English  academies  are  scattered  through  the  various 
histories  of  the  dissenters.  I  have  made  use  especially  of  those  of  CALAMT 
(Continuation,  etc.),  TOULMIN,  and  WALTER  WILSON. 

Brief  sketches  of  the  history  of  the  academies  may  be  found  in  the 
following  : 

[HAMILTON,  RICHARD  WINTER],  Historical  sketch  of  Airedale  College, 
with  brief  notices  of  the  northern  dissenting  academies.  The  Congre- 
gational Magazine  (London),  new  series,  VIII.,  pp.  581-592,  October, 

1831; 

and  in  The  American  Quarterly  Register  (Audover,  Mass.,  1830),  II., 

p.  255  ;  and 
The  Quarterly  Journal  of  Education  (London,  1831),  I.,  p.  49  ff. 

1  The  parallel  development  of  "academies"  in  Scotland  and  in  Germany 
presents  many  interesting  features.  For  the  establishment  of  the  Scotch  acad- 
emies— beginning  with  that  of  Perth,  in  1760  —  see  GRANT,  Burgh  schools  of 
Scotland,  pt.  2,  ch.  2,  sec.  5,  pp.  114-126.  They  were  established  in  response 
to  a  call  for  "  a  morn  liberal  and  more  practical  course  of  education,"  and  laid 
emphasis  on  the  teaching  of  science.  These  Scotch  academies  seem  to  have 
been  generally  governed  by  boards  made  up  largely  of  the  subscribers  who  had 
established  the  several  schools,  but  with  a  representation  ;<also  from  the  town 
councils.  Id.,  p.  121  ff. 

An  account  of  the  German  Ritterakademien,  institutions  of  a  very  different 
sort,  appears  in  PAULSEN,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  UnterricMs,  bk.  2,  sec.  1, 
ch.  3.  These  schools  flourished  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 

12 


178       THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  character  of  the  educational  institutions  of  the  dissenters  at  a  later 
date  is  discussed  with  much  frankness  in  an  article  entitled : 

The  defects  of  dissenting  colleges.  The  Eclectic  Review  (London),  new 
series,  VIII.,  pp.  547-561,  November,  1840; 

and  in  other  issues  of  the  same  magazine. 
Reference  should  be  made  also  to  : 

[BELKNAP,  REV.  JER.,  D.D.,  and  KIPPIS,  DE.  ANDREW].  Memoirs  of 
the  lives,  characters,  and  writings  of  those  two  eminently  pious  and 
useful  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  Dr.  Isaac  Watts  and  Dr.  Philip 
Doddridge,  Boston,  1793,  pp.  301. 

KIPPIS'S  Life  of  Doddridge  is  prefixed  to  volume  I.  of  Doddridge's 
works. 

Isaac  Watts  ;  his  life  and  writings,  his  homes  and  friends  [date  and  author 
not  given].  London,  The  Religious  Tract  Society ; 

contains  some  interesting  matter.     The  standard  life  of  Watts,  that  by 
GIBBONS,  I  have  not  seen. 
For  the  education  of  Daniel  Defoe,  we  have: 

WILSON,  WALTER.  Memoirs  of  the  life  and  times  of  Daniel  De  Foe :  con- 
taining a  review  of  his  writings  and  his  opinions  upon  a  variety  of 
important  matters,  civil  and  ecclesiastical.  In  three  volumes.  London, 
1830,  I.,  ch.  2. 

Also 

LEE,  WILLIAM.  Daniel  De  Foe  :  His  life  and  recently  discovered  writings. 
London,  1869. 

The  titles  of  Samuel  Wesley's  pamphlets  against  the  educational  institu- 
tions of  the  dissenters  and  of  the  replies  by  Samuel  Palmer  are  given  in  a 
foot-note  to  page  10  of  Lee's  work.  The  only  one  of  these  pamphlets  that 
I  have  found  is  the  following,  in  the  library  of  Columbia  University  : 

PALMER,  SAMUEL.  A  vindication  of  the  learning,  loyalty,  morals,  and 
most  Christian  behaviour  of  the  Dissenters  toward  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. In  answer  to  Mr.  Wesley's  Defence  of  his  letter  concerning  the 
Dissenters  education  in  their  private  academies  And  to  Mr.  Sacheverel's 
injurious  reflections  upon  them.  London:  Printed  for  J.  Lawrence  at 
the  Angel  in  the  Poultry,  1705,  pp.  115. 

DEFOE'S  Essay  upon  projects  and  The  present  state  of  the  parties  in 
Great  Britain  were  both  printed  anonymously,  the  former  in  1697  and 
the  latter  in  1712.  There  is  a  copy  of  the  first  of  these  in  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  and  of  the  other  in  the  Library  of  Congress.  The 
Essay  upon  projects  is  accessible  in  various  reprints. 


CHAPTER   IX 
EARLY  AMERICAN   ACADEMIES 

IN  view  of  those  beginnings  which  have  already  been 
traced,  we  may  say  that  the  academy  movement  was  an 
outcome  of  nonconformity.  While  largely  in  line  with  the 
educational  tradition  of  the  time,  it  involved  also  a  consid- 
erable range  of  educational  dissent,  along  with  the  more 
obvious  element  of  religious  dissent.  Especially  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  it  was  largely  a  middle-class  movement. 
If  there  was  in  it  something  of  crude  philistinism,  there  was 
also_in  it  some  vital  appreciation  of  the  educational  signifi- 
cance of  that  great  movement  by  which  the  common  people 
were  rising  to  power  and  prominence. 

The  great  increase  of  sectarianism  in  America,  where  the 
several  church  establishments  were  less  powerful  than  that 
of  England,  brought  forward  a  new  educational  problem. 
How  should  education  be  promoted  in  a  society  split  in 
every  direction  with  religious  diversity  ?  The  significant 
fact  was  that  there  were  in  that  society  men  who  appre- 
ciated the  need  and  value  of  education.  There  was  a  grow- 
ing number  of  good  citizens  who,  however  much  they  might 
differ  as  to  religion,  agreed  in  their  love  of  learning.  Such 
men  gradually  found  it  possible  to  work  together  on  the 
boards  of  trustees  of  the  new  institutions.  Much  concession 
and  adjustment  was  necessary ;  but  the  co-operative  scheme 
won  its  way  as  it  was  found  to  be  workable.  The  history  of 
the  Philadelphia  academy  will  give  some  idea  of  the  general 
course  of  this  movement. 

As  early  as  1743,  Benjamin  Franklin  had  sketched  a  plan 
for  the  establishment  of  an  academy.  But  the  times  were 


180          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

not  propitious,  and  he  was  a  man  who  could  .w.ait.  Six 
years  later  the  outlook  was  more  favorable,  and  after_coji- 
sultation  with  some  of  his  friends  he  published  his  Proposals 
relating  to  the  education  of  youth  in  Pennsylvania.  .  "The 

*-.    ™*A     "  hao    V>Qon     esteemed    b 


wise  men  in  all  ages,  as  the  surestLfQu.Q-dfl.hinr>  oJLtliP  happi- 
ness both  of  private  families  and  of  commonwealths."  The 
decline  of  learning  in  the  colonies  was  deplored.  Many  of 
the  fathers  had  been  well  educated  in  Europe  ;  but  "  the 
present  race  are  not  thought  to  be  generally  of  equal  abil- 
ity ;  for,  though  the  American  youth  are  allowed  not  to 
want  capacity,  yet  the  best  capacities  require  cultivation." 
It  was  accordingly  proposed  that  some  gentlemen  of  leisure 
and  public  spirit  should  secure,  a  charter  authorizing  them 
to  erect  an  academy.  These  trustees  should  take  a  personal 
interest  in  the  school,  and  should  undertake  in  practical 
ways  to  promote  the  welfare  of  its  students  when  they 
should  go  forth  to  the  duties  of  active  life. 

It  was  further  proposed  that  a  building^  should  be  provided 
in  a  healthful  situation,  with  garcTen,  orchard,  meadow,  and 
field  ;  and  furnished  With  a  library,  philosophical  apparatus. 
and  other  appliances.  There  should  be  a  rector  and  the 
necessary  number  of  tutors  under  him.  Provision  should 
be  made  for  boarders.  Sports  were  recommended  for  the 
physical  good  of  the  students  :  running,  leaping,  wrestling, 
and  swimming. 

"  As  to  their  studies,  it  would  be  well  if  they  could  be 
taught  everything  that  is  useful,  and  everything  that  is 
ornamental.  But  art  is  long  and  their  time  is  short.  It  is 
therefore  proposed,  that  they  learn  those  things  that  are 
likely  to  be  most  useful  and  most  ornamental  ;  regard  being 
had  to  the  several  professions  for  which  they  are  intended." 

All  were  to  be  taught  penmanship,  drawing  (with  per- 
spective). arithmetic  (with  accounts,  and  the  first  principles 
of  geometry  and  astronomy),  and  the  English  language 
(grammar,  oral  reading,  and  composition).  The  greatest 
stress  was  laid  upon  studies  in  English.  Authors  of  the 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  181 

late  seventeenth  and  the  early  eighteenth  century  were  rec- 
ommended for  study  ;  but  readings  in  history  were  still  more 
strongly  emphasized  and  were  made  to  constitute  the  vital 
centre  of  the  whole  plan  of  instruction.  "  If  history  be 
made  a  constant  part  of  their  reading,  .  .  .  may  not 
almost  all  kinds  of  useful  knowledge  be  that  way  introduced 
to  advantage  ?  "  Geography,  chronology,  ancient  customs, 
oratory,  civil  government,  logic,  languages,  and  even 
morality  and  religion,  were  to  find  their  first  entrance  into 
the  attention  and  interest  of  the  students  through  the 
channel  of  history. 

But,  the  proposals  continued,  there  should  be  also  read- 
ings  in  natural  history,  both  because  of  the  utility  of  its 
several  divisions  arid  for  the  sake  of  the  improvement  of 
conversation.  This  study  should  be  accompanied  by  practi- 
cal  exercises  in  agriculture  and  horticulture.  Commerce, 
industry,  and  median  ics  would  be  entertaining  and  useful 


With  all  this  the  academy  should_j3ultivate  "  that  benig- 
nity of  mind,  ™v.;^  ^  ffro  fZZnA^^m  of  what  is  called 

goocL  breeding/*  and  should  impress  on  the  minds  of  the 

youth  the  idea  of  what  constitutes  true  merit,  which  is  "an 
inclination,  joined  with  an  ability,  to  serve  mankind,,  one's 
country/Tnends,  and  family."  Tma 


creases  the  ability  to  perform  such  service. 

Franjklin^would  gladly  have  made  this  academy  an  Eng- 
lish school  pure  and  simple.  But  he  yielded  to  men  of 
wealth  and  learning  whose  co-operation  was  needed,  and 
included  both  ancient  and  modern  languages.  As  a  pupil  in 
the  Boston  Latin  {School,  he  had  himself  made  only  a  begin- 
ning  in  the  study  of  La5n!  In  The  severe  course  oLaelfr 
education  which  he  had  carried  out  during  his  early 
manhood,  lie  had  included  a  study  of  some  of  the  modern 
languages.  Jl'hese  he  valued  very  highly  because  of  practical 
advantages  which  they  conferred.  He  even  returned  to  the 
study  of  Lntin,  with  some  increased  appreciation  of  its  use- 
fulness ;  but  near  the  close  of  his  life  he  referred  to  the 


182          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

teaching  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  schools  as  the  "  chapeau 
bras  of  modern  literature."  He  proposed  that  in  the  acad- 
emy the  study  of  languages  should  be  optional.  But 
students  of  divinity  should  be  taught  Latin  and  Greek ; 
students  of  medicine  should  add  French  ;  students  of  law 
should  take  Latin  and  French ;  and  future  merchants,  the 
modern  languages,  French,  German,  and  Spanish. 

The  Proposals  were  distributed  among  the  public-spirited 
citizens  of  Philadelphia,  and  met  with  general  favor.  A 
subscription  was  soon  set  on  foot  with  a  view  to  carrying 
them  into  effect.  This  was  very  successful.  The  individual 
contributions,  subscribed  for  a  period  of  five  years,  soon 
amounted  to  the  goodly  sum  of  X800  a  year.  Then  aid 
was  solicited  from  the  city  government,  and  the  response 
was  a  donation  of  £200  from  the  public  treasury,  with  the 
added  promise  of  £100  a  year  for  five~years.  The  subscribers 
chose  twenty-four  prominent  citizens  from  their  number  to 
act  as  trustees  of  the  funds  thus  secured.  This  board  of 
trustees  adopted  a  set  of  Constitutions  of  the  Publick  Acad- 
emy In  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  hired  a  house,  engaged 
masters,  and  opened  the  school.1 

The  school  was  popular  from  the  start,  and  the  house  was 
soon  too  small  to  hold  it.  It  happened  that  the  building 
erected  in  1740  for  the  double  purpose  of  providing  a  preach- 
ing place  for  Whitefield  and  other  itinerants  and  housiug  a 
charity  school,  was  now  available.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
the  proposed  charity  school  had  ever  been  opened.  The 
property  was  encumbered  by  debt.  Fortunately  Franklin 
was  one  of  the  trustees  of  this  hall  and  also  a  trustee  of  the 
new  academy.  He  brought  about  an  agreement  between 
the  two  boards,  by  which  the  academy  acquired  the  build- 
ing under  promise  that  a  charity  school  should  be  conducted 
on  the  premises. 

The  Whitefield  building  was  accordingly  opened  as  the 
home  of  the  academy  in  January,  1751.  This  was  made  a 

1  All  in  the  year  1749,  if  Franklin's  account,  written  years  after,  from 
memory,  is  correct. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  183 

formal  occasion,  and  a  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev. 
Richard  Peters.  In  due  time  a  charity  school,  of  lower 
grade  than  the  academy,  was  opened  in  accordance  with 
the  terms  of  the  transfer.  Then  a  charter  was  secured 
from  the  proprietaries  of  the  province,  in  1753,  incorpor- 
ating The  Trustees  of  the  Academy  and  Charitable  School 
in  the"  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  This  body  was  made 
self-perpetuating.  Its  members  must  always  be  residents 
of  Pennsylvania,  within  five  rmTes  of  the  seat  of  the  acad- 
emy".' The  trustees  were  authorized  "to  erect  .  .  .  and 
support  an  academy  or  any  other  kind  of  seminary  of 
learning  in  any  place  within  the  said  province  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  they  shall  judge  the  same  to  be  most  necessary 
and  convenient  for  the  instruction,  improvement,  and  edu- 
cation of  youth  in  any  kind  of  literature,  erudition,  arts,  and 
sciences,  which  they  shall  think  fitting  and  proper  to  be 
taught?'  This  was  a  remarkably  broad  provision. 

The  academy  was  organized  in  three  schools4  the  Latin, 
the  English,  and  the  mathematical,  each  having  a  separate 
master.  The  first  rector,  Mr.  David  Martin,  died  before  he 
had  been  with  the  school  a  full  year.  Then  the  Rev.  Francis 
Alison,  who  had  conducted  the  Presbyterian  "  academy  "  at 
New  London,  was  made  master  of  the  Latin  school ;  and 
seems  later  to  have  become  rector  of  the  academy.  Mr. 
David  James  Dove  was  the  English  master.  He  devoted 
a  part  of  each  day  to  a  private  VcTTool  For  eirls.  In  the 
academy,  he  had  about  ninety  pupils ;  but  some  difference 
having  arisen  between  him  and  the  trustees  he  withdrew 
after  somewhat  more  than  two  years  of  service,  and  there- 
after conducted  a  private  school  for  boys  besides  continuing 
his  girls'  school.  His  salary  in  the  academy  was  £150  a 
year. 

The  Latin  master  received  £200  a  year.  It  was  originally 
intended  that  such  instruction  as  the  Latin  scholars  might 
receive  in  history,  logic,  English,  etc.,  should  be  given  by 
the  Latin  master;  and  the  Latin  master  was  expected  to 
assist  the  English  master  as  he  might  find  opportunity. 


184          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

No  assistant  teacher  or  usher  was  to  be  provided  in  the 
Latin  School  for  less  than  twenty  boys,  nor  in  the  English 
school  folTTess  than  forty  boys.  In  the  earlier  days,  the 
attendance  in  the  Latin  School  seems  to  have  been  about 
sixty.  Mr.  Dove's  ninety  in  the  English  School  was  reduced 
to  about  forty  after  his  withdrawal  The  tuition,  jee  in  each 
of  these  schools  was  £4  a  year.  Mr.  Theophilus  Grew  was 
the  "  mathematical  professor,^'  at  a  salary  of  £125.  As 
early  as  1751  there  were  three  "assistant  tutors"  employed 
in  the~acadeiny,  at  a  salary  Of  JJOO  Bticli.1 ' 

The  Rev.  William  Smith,  a  graduate  of  the  University 
of  Aberdeen,  and  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England, 
having  come  to  America,  became  deeply  interested  in  the 
movement  for  the  establishment  of  King's  College,  and  took 
occasion  to  publish  his  ideas  upon  the  higher  education  in 
a  work  entitled  A  general  idea  of  the  College  of  Mirania. 
This  came  to  the  notice  of  Franklin,  who  entered  into 
correspondence  with  Mr.  Smith  with  reference  to  the  affairs 
of  the  academy.  The  result  was  that  in  1754  Mr.  Smith 
was  appointed  to  the  teaching  force  of  the  institution.  A 
fourth  school  was  then  added,  the  philosophical.  Mr.  Smith 
(later  Doctor  of  Divinity)  was  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
school,  in  which  he  taught  logic,  rhetoric,  and  natural  and 
moral  philosophy,  to  the  more  advanced  students. 

Then  followed  the  reincorporation  of  the  institution  as 
the  College,  Academy,  and  Charitable  School  of  Philadelphia. 
The  new  charter  simply  confirmed  and  extended  the  provis- 
ions of  the  earlier  one,  the  chief  addition  being  the  power 
to  confer  academic  degrees.  Dr.  Smith  was  made  provost  of 
the  institution,  and  he  continued  at  its  head  until  1779. 
Dr.  Alison  was  made  vice-provost.  After  the  reorganization 
in  1755,  the  Latin  and  Philosophical  schools  were  spoken  of 
as  the  college,  and  the  other  two  constituted  the  academy. 

It  appears  at  once  that  the  early  history  of  this  institution 
was  very  different  from  that  of  any  other  American  school. 

1  Much  interesting  information  concerning  the  early  masters  is  found  in 
MONTGOMERY,  History  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  pp.  141-204. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  185 

But  some  of  its  characteristics  were  typical,  and  may  be  re- 
garded as  symptoms  of  the  general  change  which  was  com- 
ing over  our  educational  thought. 

The  ends  which  the  academy  was  intended  to  serve  were 
set  forth  by  the  trustees  in  their  petition  for  aid  from  the 
city  treasury.  They  were  four  in  number : 

^  1.  That  the  Youth  of  Pensilvania  may  have  an  opportunity  of 
receiving 'a  good  Education  at  home,  and  be  under  no  necessity  of 
going  abroad  lor  it ;  W  hereby  not  only  considerable  Expense  may 
be  saved  to  the  Country,  but  a  stricter  Eye  may  be  had  over  their 
morals  by  their  Friends  and  Relations. 

"  2.  That  a  number  of  our  Natives  will  be  hereby  qualified  to 
bear  Magistracies,  and  execute  other  public  offices  of  Trust,  with 
Reputation  to  themselves  &  Country  ;  There  being  at  present  great 
Want  of  Persons  so  qualified  in  the  several  Counties  of  this  Pro- 
vince. And  this  is  the  m^r^joecpfiflary  IK?W  to  be  provided  for  by 
the  English  here,  as  vast  Numbers  of  Foreigners  are  yearly  imported 
among  us,  totall v_jgiioranjt  of  our  Laws,  Customs  and  Language. 

"  3.  That  a  Tinmhflr -of  t.ha  pftftrgr  fi^hwill  V>Q  hoi^fry  qualified  *.n 
act  as  Schoolmasters  in  the  Country,  to  teach  Children  Tfoadinfc 
Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  the  Grammar  of  their  Mother  Tongue, 
and  being  of  good  morals  and  known  character,  may  be  recom- 
mended from  the  Academy  to  Country  Schools  for  that  purpose ; 
The  Country  suffering  at  present  very  much  for  want  of  good 
Schoolmasters,  and  obliged  frequently  to  employ  in  their  Schools, 
vicious  imported  Servants,  or  concealed  Papists,  who  by  their  bad 
Examples  and  Instructions  often  deprave  the  Morals  or  corrupt  the 
Principles  of  the  Children  under  their  Care. 

"  4.  It  is  thought  that  a  good  _Academ v.  erected  in  Philadelphia, 
a  healthy  place  where  Provision  are  plenty,  situated  m  the"  Center 
of  the  Colonies,  may  draw  a  number  of  Students  from  tne' nelgEBor- 
ing  Provinces,  who  must  spend  Considerable  Sums  yearly  among 
us,  in  Payment  for  their  Lodging,  Diet,  Apparel, .  &c.,  which  will 
be  an  Advantage  to  our  Traders,  Artisans,  and  Owners  of  Houses 
and  Lands.  .  .  ." 

These  arguments  call  for  a  few  words  of  comment.  The 
need  of  home  schools  to  enable  native-born  Americans  to 


186          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

compete  with  foreigners  in  public  and  commercial  employ- 
ments, was  much  in  the  minds  of  thinking  men  among  the 
colonists.  We  have  seen  that  the  consideration  of  this 
need  entered  largely  into  the  discussions  which  arose  about 
the  county  school  system  of  Maryland.  It  became  a  subject 
of  dispute  in  Virginia  also.  With  the  growth  of  business 
concerns  in  American  cities,  it  became  necessary  to  send 
to  Europe  for  young  men  who  had  received  a  training  not 
easily  got  in  this  country.1  This  state  of  things  plainly 
demanded  some  sort  of  remedial  action  on  the  part  of  the 
colonists. 

The  need  of  education  because  of  the  increase  ojjoreign 
immigration  became  much  more  serious  as  time  went  on. 
We  shall  see  that  the  service  of  the  academies  in  providing 
the  country  with  better  teachers  commanded  much  atten- 
tion when  the  academy  movement  got  well  under  way. 
And  this  is  not  the  only  instance  in  which  we  find  that 
those  of  "the  poorer  sort"  were  thought  of  for  future 
schoolmasters.  The  fear  of  secret  Roman  Catholic  influence 
which  is  referred  to,  was  deep-seated  in  the  minds  of  Eng- 
lishmen everywhere,  and  was,  of  course,  based  on  political 
as  well  as  religious  considerations. 

It  may  well  be  supposed  that  the  religious  bearings  of  edu- 
cation would  be  taken  less  seriously  by  such  a  man  as  Franklin 
than  the  thrifty  forethought  expressed  in  the  fourth  argument. 
This  argument  was  reinforced  by  European  precedents,  and  it 
was  doubtless  asTrifluential  as  any  in  securing  the  desired  sub- 
sidy from  the  town  council.  The  realism  of  the  paragraph 
gets  its  finishing  touch  in  that  delicate  allusion  to  school- 
boy appetite.  How  well  the  academy  fulfilled  the  expecta- 

1  MR.  WEEDEN  tells  of  a  request  sent  by  Peter  Faneuil,  in  1736,  to  his 
London  correspondents,  that  they  would  send  him  from  "Christ  Hospital  a 
Cleaver  Sober  young  youth  that  has  had  the  Small  Pox  wch  is  fitting  to  be 
brort  up  in  my  Counting  House,  one  that  wrights  and  siphers  well."  Eco- 
nomic and  social  history,  II.,  p.  618.  See  also  his  account  of  Thomas  Amory, 
son  of  a  South  Carolina  merchant,  who  was  educated  under  the  great  Master 
Busby  at  Westminster  School,  near  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Id., 
p.  566. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  187 

tioii  of  commercial  advantage  to  the  city  appears  from  a 
communication  by  "  Philo-Marylandicus  "  in  the  Maryland 
G-azette,  in  1754.  The  writer  was  urging  the  establishment 
of  a  college  in  Maryland ;  and  in  support  of  that  project  he 
presented  an  estimate  of  the  amount  of  good  money  drawn 
from  Maryland  to  Philadelphia  by  the  academy  in  that  city. 
At  least  one  hundred  Marylanders,  he  declared,  were  at- 
tending the  academy,  and  these  might  be  expected  to  spend 
fifty  pounds  sterling  a  year  each  in  Philadelphia,  making  a 
total  of  five  thousand  pounds  ! l 

The  religious  difficulty  had  been  met  by  making  represen- 
tatives of  different  denominations  members  of  the  first  board 
of  trustees.  This  probably  indicated  a  purpose  on  the  part 
of  the  promoters  to  be  fair  to  all  Protestant  sects  and  to  be 
bound  to  none.  Their  attitude  is  a  sign  that  the  transfer 
of  emphasis  in  education  from  religion  to,  morals  was  already 
begun.  Franklin  would  surely  favor  such  a  change  of  front, 
in  so  far  as  it  might  be  found  politic ;  for  his  religious  creed 
was  short  and  simple,  and  he  had  made  systematic  en- 
deavors to  attain  to  moral  perfection. 

A  great  subscription  was  raised  in  England  for  the  col- 
lege and  academy  in  1762-64.  This  was  made  the  occa- 
sion of  a  joint  letter  to  the  trustees  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  the  proprietaries  of  the  province,  and  an  eminent 
dissenter,  recommending  in  substance  that  the  distribution 
of  trusteeships  among  the  several  denominations  be  made 
permanent.  The  trustees  accordingly  made  a  formal  dec- 
laration that  neither  "  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land or  those  dissenting  from  them  [should]  (in  any  future 
Election  .  .  .  )  be  put  on  any  worse  Footing  in  this  Semi- 
nary than  they  are  [at  the  time  referred  to]."  In  the 
course  of  the  troubles  which  befell  the  institution  during 
the  Revolutionary  War,  it  was  charged  that  this  decla- 
ration was  in  effect  a  narrowing  of  the  original  intent  of 
the  foundation. 

Franklin  had  to  make  many  concessions  to  get  the  acad- 

1  Quoted  by  STEINER,  History  of  education  in  Maryland,  p.  29. 


188          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

emy  launched  in  the  first  instance,  and  it  finally  swung  so 
far  away~froin  his  original  purposeThat  he  found  himself 
much  out  of  sympathy  with  its  management.  He  was 
especially  disappointed  in  the  English  school,  which  had 
been  the  centre  of  his  interest  in  the  undertaking. 

New  schools  devoted  to  new  ideas  tend  generally  to  be- 
come assimilated  with  the  educational  traditions  about 
them.  This  was  the  case  with  the  academies,  and  the 
academy  at  Philadelphia  presents  a  striking  example. 
The  p.lflgfiigal  t.rfldiHnn  wfl,p  strong  when. .this  ajjionl  was 
founded  —  a  tradition  backed  up  by  all  the  artificial  clas- 
sicism of  Augustan  England,  and  of  the  European  mode 
established  by  the  France  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis  XV. 
Orators  decorated  their  speeches  with  Latin  quotations. 
Contributors  to  the  newspapers  signed  themselves  Cato 
or  Justitia  or  PMo-something-or-other.  These  things  h ad 
degenerated  into  a  mere  shibboleth  of  an  educated  class. 
The  new  life  that  was  to  be  put  into  classical  studies  by 
the  New  Humanism  of  Germany  was  not  yet  felt. 

The  growth  of  nationalism  and  of  national  literatures  had 
hardly  begun  to  affect  the  schools.  It  took  the  romantic 
movement  and  the  American  and  French  revolutions  to  give 
the  mother  tongue  an  assured  position  in  programmes  of 
instruction.  This  was  true  of  other  countries  as  well  as  of 
England  and  her  colonies.  So  the  English  school  in  the 
academy  at  Philadelphia  was  in  advance  of  the  times.  It  is 
important,  however,  in  that  it  looked  totthe  future. 

Before  the  academy  was  fairly  started,  Franklin  had  pre- 
pared a  Sketch  of  an  English  school.  »fThis  was  a  proposed 
course  of  studies  in  English  for  a  school  of  six  classes.  Its 
recommendations  run  about  as  follows  :  Pupils  jshould  have 
learned  to  read  and  write  before  entering  this  school.  In 
the  lowest  class,  they  are  to  study  the  rules  of  English 
grammar,  orthography,  and  short  pieces,  such  as  Croxall's 
Fables  and  little  stories.  Attention  is  to  be  given  to  the 
meaning  of  words  and  to  oral  reading.  In  the  second  class, 
the  pupils  will  read  short  pieces  like  those  of  the  Spectator, 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  189 

with  some  gramma^i'ml  rtvirlj  nnrl  mi  irrnnnt  of  the  mean- 
ings of  words,  of  sentences,  and  of  the  piece  as  a  whole. 
Ot,hprjftggnr\s  may  be  devoted  to  selections  from  JDlays  and 
speeches,  letters,  Hudibrastic  and  heroic  verse,  etc.  Such 
lessons  should  be  chosen  as  contain  useful  instruction. 
When  the  meaning  has  been  mastered,  attention  should 
be  devoted  to  oral  reading.  Each  boy  should  have  a 
dictionary. 

In  the  third  class,  especial  attention  should  be  given  to 
rhetoric  and  the  practice  of  speaking.  The  reading  of  his- 
tory isTo  begin  with  Rollin's  ancient  history,  and  the  read- 
ing of  natural  and  mechanic  history,  with  the  Spectacle  de 
If  Nature.  Composition  is  to  be  the  special  concern  of  the 
fourth  class.  The  letters  of  Pope  and  Sir  William  Temple 
are  recommended  as  models.  Dr.  Johnson's l  Ethica  elementa, 
or  first  principles  of  morality,  is  to  be  read  in  this  class. 
The  fifth  class  is  to  write  little  essays  in  prose  and  verse, 
and  read  Dr.  Johnson's  Noetica,  or  first  principles  of  hu- 
man knowledge.  The  sixth,  besides  continuing  studies 
already  begun,  is  to  read  the  best  English  authors,  as  Tillot- 
son,  Milton,  Locke,  Addison,  Pope,  Swift,  the  higher  papers 
in  the  Spectator  and  Guardian,  the  best  translations  of 
Homer,  Virgil,  and  Horace,  of  Telemachus,  Travels  of 
Cyrus,  etc. 

The  school  hours  should  be  so  arranged  that  some  classes 
might  be  with  the  writing  master,  improving  their  hands, 
and  some  with  the  jnathematical  master,  studying  arith-» 
metic,  accounts,  geography,  use  of  the  globes,  drawing, 
mechanics,  etc.,  while  the  rest  are  under  the  English  mas- 
ter's instruction. 

Some  forty  years  after  the  publication  of  this  sketch,  near 
the  close  of  his  long  life,  Franklin  addressed  to  the  trustees 
of  the  college  and  academy  a  protest  against  their  treatment 
of  the  English  school.  He  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
institution,  showing  that  the  English  school  had  suffered 

1  This  was  Samuel  Johnson,  the  American,  afterward  president  of  King's 
College. 


190          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

from  systematic  discrimination  in  favor  of  the  classical 
studies,  until  the  English  master  had  been  reduced  to  the 
position  of  a  mere  assistant  to  the  Latin  master,  whose 
pupils  he  instructed  in  the  English  branches,  or  of  a  teacher 
of  little  boys  in  the  elements  commonly  taught  in  a  dame 
school.  He  declared  that  "  the  Latinists  were  combined  to 
decry  the  English  school  as  useless.  It  was  without  example, 
they  said,  as  indeed  they  still  say,  that  a  school  for  teaching 
the  vulgar  tongue,  and  the  sciences  in  that  tongue  was  ever 
joined  with  a  college,  and  the  Latin  masters  were  fully  com- 
petent to  teach  the  English."  He  proposed,  finally,  that 
since  the  interests  of  the  English  school  were  not  properly 
guarded  under  the  arrangement  then  existing,  that  school 
should  be  set  apart  as  a  separate  institution  and  given  its 
share  of  the  common  funds.  It  does  not  appear  that  action 
was  taken  along  the  line  of  this  suggestion.1 

In  the  third  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  were 
other  schools  in  the  middle  colonies  and  farther  south  which 
were  commonly  called  academies.  But  no  such  institution 
has  thus  far  come  to  light,  beside  the  one  at  Philadelphia, 
that  was  regularly  incorporated  under  this  designation  pre- 
vious to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Eevolution.  The  private 
establishments  which  came  into  existence  about  this  time 
and  were  known  as  academies,  contributed  much  to  our  later 
colonial  education,  and  some  of  them  after  a  time  grew  into 
real  American  academies.  A  few  of  these  have  been  men- 
tioned in  the  chapter  on  Later  Colonial  Schools. 

There  was  a  strongly  marked  individuality  in  the  Mora- 
vian foundation  of  Nazareth  Hall,  in  Pennsylvania.  It 
stood  upon  a  great  tract  of  land  purchased  in  1740  by 
George  Whitefield,  and  later  conveyed  by  him  to  the  Mora- 
vian Brethren.  This  domain  became  nominally  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Countess  Zinzendorf.  It  was  the  only  manor 
granted  by  the  proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania  which  was 
vested  with  the  right  of  court  baron ;  and  the  feudal  char- 
acter of  the  tenure  of  the  estate  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 

1  The  text  of  the  more  important  documents  relating  to  this  school  is 
given  in  THORPE,  Benjamin  Franklin  and  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMICS  191 

it  was  held  on  condition  of  rendering  service  to  the  propri- 
etaries by  delivering  to  them,  in  June  of  each  year,  if  de- 
manded, a  single  red  rose. 

The  building  known  as  Nazareth  Hall  was  erected  in 
1755-56  as  a  manor  house,  with  a  view  especially  to  accom- 
modating Count  Zinzendorf  and  his  retinue  when  that  noble 
bishop  should  revisit  this  country.  Zinzendorf  died  before 
he  could  return  to  America ;  but  the  Hall  was  serviceable 
in  many  ways  to  the  manor,  and  to  the  Moravian  church. 
A  synod  convened  there  in  1757,  presided  over  by  Bishop 
Spangenberg,  the  members  of  which  were  escorted  back 
and  forth  by  armed  men,  for  fear  of  an  attack  by  the 
hostile  Indians.  Then,  in  1759,  it  was  first  opened  as  a 
boarding  school  for  Moravian  youth. 

At  that  time  the  Moravians  were  living  under  a  peculiar, 
half-communistic  system.  The  boys  sent  to  this  school 
were  educated  at  the  expense  of  the  communion  for  which  it 
was  established.  This  system  came  to  an  end  in  1764,  and 
the  school  gradually  dwindled,  until  it  was  closed  in  1779. 

When  peace  had  been  restored,  after  the  Revolution,  steps 
were  taken  to  have  the  Hall  reopened  as  a  school  for  boys, 
under  Moravian  auspices,  but  admitting  others  on  equal 
terms.  It  was  announced  as  the  "  Paedagogium,  or  Boarding 
School,  about  to  be  established  by  the  United  Brethren  at 
Nazareth."  The  general  direction  of  the  institution  was 
lodged  in  the  officers  of  the  church  in  Pennsylvania.  No 
boy  might  be  admitted  under  the  age  of  seven  nt>r  above 
the  age  of  twelve.  Instruction  was  offered  in  the  elemen- 
tary branches,  and  in  the  English,  German,  Latin,  French, 
and  Greek  languages,  history,  geography,  mathematics, 
music,  and  drawing.  Particular  attention  to  the  health  and 
morals  of  the  scholars  was  promised,  with  specific  refer- 
ence to  "  proper  exercises,  cleanliness,  and  gentleness  of  de- 
portment." 

The  institution  became  widely  known  for  the  excellence 
of  its  instruction  and  discipline.  Pupils  came  from  neigh- 
boring states,  from  Europe,  and  in  considerable  numbers 


192          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

from  the  West  Indies.  John  Konkaput,  a  Stockbridge 
Indian,  was  educated  here  at  government  expense.  Two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-five  boys  were  entered  in  the  first  twenty- 
five  years  of  the  school's  existence,  eighty-three  of  whom 
were  Moravians.  German  was  the  ordinary  language  of 
the  institution  at  the  start ;  but  English  soon  took  the  first 
place,  while  German  still  received  much  attention.  In  the 
earlier  years,  the  boys  were  required  to  use  English  and 
German,  each  three  days  in  the  week,  for  all  ordinary 
conversation.1 

The  county  schools  of  Maryland  had  generally  sunk  into 
a  very  sorry  condition  before  the  end  of  the  colonial  period. 
But  a  new  educational  spirit  was  coining  into  the  life  of 
that  colony,  which  manifested  itself  in  the  establishment  of 
schools  of  the  newer  type.  The  term  academy  first  appears 
in  the  statutes  of  Maryland  in  the  year  1778.  Lower 
Marlboro  Academy  had  been  erected  and  supported  for  a 
time  at  private  expense.  In  1778,  the  legislature  author- 
ized the  sale  of  the  property  of  the  free  school  of  Calvert 
County  for  the  benefit  of  this  institution,  and  vested  its 
board  of  trustees  with  corporate  powers.2  Washington 
Academy,  in  Somerset  County,  was  also  begun  as  a  private 
enterprise  of  "  several  gentlemen  of  different  religious  per- 
suasion," who  intended  it  simply  for  the  benefit  of  their 
own  children.  This  was  in  1767.  Other  children  were 
admitted  from  time  to  time.  The  school  grew  in  public 
favor.  The  teaching  force  was  increased.  And  finally,  in 
1779,  a  regular  charter  of  incorporation  was  secured.3 

The  founding  of  the  two  Phillips  academies,  at  Ando- 
ver,  Massachusetts,  and  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  marks  a 
second  beginning  of  the  academy  movement.  For  these 
two  schools  furnished  the  model  and  inspiration  of  many 

1  REICHEL,  Nazareth  Hall,  passim. 

2  Laws  of  Maryland,  Kilty's  revision,  October,  1778,  cii.  16. 

8  Id.,  November,  1779,  ch.  15.  An  account  of  the  'origin  and  progress 
of  this  school  was  published  by  the  trustees  in  the  Maryland  Journal  and 
Baltimore  Advertiser  of  November  23,  1784.  It  is  reprinted  in  STEINER, 
History  of  education  in  Maryland,  p.  39,  foot-note. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  193 

later  institutions  established  in  the  northern  states,  both 
east  and  west. 

Samuel  Phillips  took  the  first  steps  in  this  enterprise. 
He  was  the  descendant  of  a  goodly  line  of  Harvard  gradu- 
ates. His  father,  also  named  Samuel,  had  been  for  a  time 
master  of  a  grammar  school  at  Andover,  and  later  attained 
to  prominence  in  business  and  in  politics.  The  younger 
Samuel  prepared  for  college  under  Master  Moody  in  the 
new  Dummer  School  at  Byfield,  and  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1771.  His  name  at  first  stood  eighth  in  the  list 
of  his  class,  which  numbered  sixty-three.  But  his  father 
represented  to  the  faculty  that  he  was  entitled  to  the 
seventh  place,  and  he  was  accordingly  advanced.  It  is 
said  that  this  case  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  change 
at  Harvard  by  which  the  placing  of  students  according  to 
the  rank  of  their  fathers  was  discontinued. 

When  his  college  course  was  finished,  the  young  man  soon 
made  a  place  for  himself.  He  was  a  member  of  the  provin- 
cial congress.  He  undertook  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder 
for  Washington's  army,  and  came  into  close  relations  with 
the  Commander.  He  was  in  the  convention  that  framed  the 
first  state  constitution  of  Massachusetts.  He  became  judge 
and  state  senator,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  the  commonwealth. 

From  such  accounts  as  have  come  down  to  us  we  are  led  to 
think  of  him  as  preternaturally  grave,  industrious,  and  meth- 
odical. But  he  took  a  quiet  pleasure  in  the  mirth  of  others, 
and  was  a  lover  of  children.  He  was  deeply  religious,  and 
feared  the  laxness  of  doctrine  which  he  saw  creeping  into 
the  churches.  He  was  known  at  the  same  time  as  "  an  en- 
thusiast for  virtue."  His  religion  was  intensely  ethical. 

He  was  a  devoted  student  of  the  writings  of  those  eminent 
nonconformists  whose  names  are  associated  with  the  early 
English  academies.  He  provided  for  the  gratuitous  circula- 
tion of  some  of  the  works  of  Philip  Doddridge  and  Matthew 
Henry  and  Isaac  Watts.  Doddridge's  Sermons  on  the  religious 
education  of  children,  was  among  the  books  which  he  espe- 


o 
13 


194          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

dally  recommended.  Josiah  Quincy  said  of  him  that  he 
seemed  to  have  all  of  the  poetry  of  Watts  by  heart. 

"With  all  his  conservatism  he  was  an  innovator.  His 
fertile  mind  was  intent  upon  improvements ;  upon  discuss- 
ing principles  and  devising  schemes,  which  would  break  in 
salutarily  upon  the  old  order  of  things.  Sometimes  his  best 
friends,  and  especially  his  father  and  uncles,  who  were  yet 
sure  to  second  his  projects,  would  hint  that  he  had  a  little 
too  much  of  the  spirit  of  what  we,  in  our  day,  term  '  young 
America.' "  l  This  mixture  of  conservatism  and  progress  is 
fairly  representative  of  the  academy  movement,  with  which 
his  name  is  so  intimately  connected. 

Several  members  of  the  Phillips  family  were  associated 
with  Judge  Samuel  Phillips  in  the  establishment  of  the 
academy  at  Andover,  notably  his  father  and  his  father's  two 
brothers,  John  Phillips  of  Exeter  and  William  Phillips  of 
Boston.  John  Phillips,  on  his  own  account,  became  the 
founder  of  the  academy  at  Exeter.  He  had  preached  in  his 
young  manhood,  soon  after  graduating  from  Harvard  Col- 
lege. But  becoming  deeply  impressed  with  the  discourses 
of  Whitefield,  to  which  he  had  listened,  he  declared  himself 
unqualified  for  the  ministry,  and  gave  it  up.  For  a  time  he 
was  teacher  of  a  classical  school.  He  was  prominent  in 
business,  became  colonel  of  militia  and  justice  of  one  of  the 
New  Hampshire  courts,  and  was  a  liberal  benefactor  of 
Princeton  and  Dartmouth  Colleges. 

Josiah  Quincy,  writing  in  1855,  said  of  him : 

"  I  visited  him  at  Exeter  in  his  family  ...  I  spent  three  or 
four  days  there,  and  partook  of  his  simple  meals.  I  heard  him  at 
his  family  devotions.  I  shall  never  forget  the  patriarchal  sweetness 
of  his  countenance,  or  the  somewhat  stern,  yet  not  unattractive 
manner,  in  which  he  greeted  and  responded.  He  had  an  austere 
faith,  softened  by  natural  temperament  and  inherent  kindliness  of 
spirit."  3 

1  TAYLOR,  Memoir  of  Judge  Phillips,  p.  295. 

a  The  Phillips  family  is  connected  with  much  that  is  of  the  best  in  New 
England.  It  has  shown  a  remarkable  tendency  to  rise  to  some  new  greatness 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  195 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  Kevolutionary  War  that  these 
academies  were  established.  Samuel  Phillips,  the  father, 
and  Dr.  John,1  his  brother,  became  the  founders  of  the 
Andover  school  by  executing  a  deed  of  gift  for  its  en- 
dowment, on  the  twenty-first  of  April,  1778.  A  "consti- 
tution" for  the  proposed  institution  was  embodied  in  the 
deed. 

According  to  this  document,  the  donors  proposed  "  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  public  free  SCHOOL  or  ACADEMY  for  the 
purpose  of  instructing  Youth,  not  only  in  English  and  Latin 
Grammar,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  those  Sciences  wherein 
they  are  commonly  taught ;  but  more  especially  to  learn  them 

the  GREAT  END  AND  REAL  BUSINESS  OF  LIVING."    Further  on,  "  it 

is  again  declared,  that  the  first  and  principal  object  of  this 
Institution  is  the  promotion  of  true  PIETY  and  VIRTUE  ;  the 
second,  instruction  in  the  English,  Latin,  and  Greek  Lan- 
guages, together  with  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Music,  and  the 
Art  of  Speaking ;  the  third,  practical  Geometry,  Logic,  and 
Geography ;  and  the  fourth,  such  other  of  the  liberal  Arts 
and  Sciences  or  Languages,  as  opportunity  and  ability  may 
hereafter  admit,  and  as  the  TRUSTEES  shall  direct." 

Only  Protestants  may  be  trustees  or  instructors  in  this 
school.  Its  advantages  are  thrown  open  equally  to  youth 
"  from  every  quarter ; "  but  they  must  first  be  able  to  read 
English  well.  The  trustees,  however,  have  power  to  provide 
for  a  limited  number  of  beginners.  The  principal  instructor 
in  the  school  must  be  "  a  professor  of  the  CHRISTIAN  RELI- 
GION, of  exemplary  manners,  of  good  natural  abilities  and 
literary  acquirements,  of  a  good  acquaintance  with  human 
nature,  of  a  natural  aptitude  for  instruction  and  govern- 
ment." Much  stress  is  laid  on  the  making  of  a  suitable 

in  successive  generations.  The  Josiah  Quincy  referred  to  above,  sometime 
president  of  Harvard  College,  was  connected  with  the  family  through  his 
mother.  Wendell  Phillips,  the  anti-slavery  orator,  was  descended  from  a 
cousin  of  the  founders  of  the  academy  at  Andover.  And  Phillips  Brooks  was 
a  great-grandson  of  Judge  Phillips. 

1  Harvard  College  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  LL.D.  Or  was  it  Dart- 
mouth ?  The  accounts  at  hand  do  not  agree. 


196          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

appointment   to   this  office.     No  other  consideration  than 
that  of  qualifications  is  to  enter  into  the  selection. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  duties  of  a  master  toward  his 
pupils,  the  principal  instructor  is  charged,  "critically  and 
constantly  "  to  "observe  the  variety  of  their  natural  tempers 
and  solicitously  endeavor  to  bring  them  under  such  disci- 
pline as  may  tend  most  effectually  to  promote  their  own 
satisfaction  and  the  happiness  of  others."  He  is  "  to  en- 
courage the  Scholars  to  perform  some  manual  labor,  such  as 
gardening,  or  the  like ;  so  far  as  it  is  consistent  with  cleanli- 
ness and  the  inclination  of  their  parents "  It  is  expected 
that  many  of  the  students  will  become  ministers  ;  and  the 
master  is  particularly  directed  to  give  instruction  in  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  religion  as  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures. 
That  everything  may  be  open  and  above-board  in  the 
management  of  its  financial  affairs,  there  is  a  provision  that 
a  full  record  of  donations  to  the  institution  and  of  all  ex- 
penditures shall  be  kept  open  for  all  men  to  read.1 

The  school  was  opened  in  due  form  on  the  thirtieth  of 
April,  1778.  The  Kev.  Jonathan  French,  one  of  the 
trustees,  preached  a  sermon  on  that  occasion.  Mr.  Eliphalet 
Pearson,  the  teacher  of  the  town  grammar  school,  was  the 
first  preceptor,  and  continued  in  that  office  for  the  term  of 
eight  years.  He  had  been  a  fellow  pupil  with  Judge  Phillips, 
at  the  Dummer  School,  and  was  also  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College.  When  he  withdrew  from  the  preceptorship  of  the 
academy,  it  was  to  become  a  professor  in  the  college. 

October  4,  1780,  the  school  was  incorporated  under  the 
title  of  Phillips  Academy,  becoming  the  first  chartered 
academy  in  New  England.  The  act  of  incorporation  reiter- 
ated and  confirmed  the  chief  provisions  of  the  constitution. 
The  school  was  placed  under  the  control  of  a  board  of 
twelve  trustees  (the  number  might  be  increased  to  thirteen 
but  must  not  be  less  than  seven),  who,  with  their  successors, 
were  declared  to  be  "  the  true  and  sole  Visitors,  Trustees, 

1  The  quotations  are  from  the  pamphlet  edition  of  this  Constitution,  issued 
in  1828. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  197 

and  Governors  "  of  the  institution.  The  "  principal  Instruc- 
tor "  must  always  be  a  member  of  this  board ;  a  majority  of 
the  members  must  be  laymen  and  respectable  freeholders ; 
and  a  majority  also  must  be  men  who  were  not  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town  in  which  the  school  might  be  situated. 
Under  these  limitations,  vacancies  in  the  board  were  to  be 
filled  by  vote  of  the  remaining  members.  By  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  trustees,  the  school  might  be  removed  to  any 
other  more  suitable  location  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts. 

Such  was  the  simple  and  sufficient  form  of  administration 
settled  by  law.  The  school  was  prosperous  from  the  start. 
No  ill  luck  followed  upon  its  opening  with  exactly  thirteen 
pupils  in  attendance;  and  the  number  was  speedily  in- 
creased.1 After  the  first  term,  provision  was  made  for  an 
assistant  teacher. 

The  donations  of  four  members  of  the  Phillips  family  to 
this  institution  amounted  to  about  eighty-five  thousand 
dollars,  a  very  considerable  sum  for  that  period.  The 
several  sources  of  this  fund  have  been  given  as  follows : 

From  the  Hon.  Samuel  Phillips,  of  North 
Andover $6,000 

From  the  Hon.  John  Phillips,  LL.D.,  of 

Exeter  '  .  .  31,000 

From  the  Hon.  William  Phillips,  of 

Boston 6,000 

From  His  Honor,  William  Phillips,  of 

Boston  (to  the  Academy) 28,000 

From  the  same  (to  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, established  later  in  connection 
with  the  Academy) 14,000  2 

1  The  biographer  of  Judge  Phillips  has  a  whimsical  note  on  the  annus 
mirabilis  in  which  the  academy  charter  was  granted.     The  legislative  act  of 
incorporation  was  the  last  act  passed  under  the  old  government  of  Massachu- 
setts.    The  next  act  was  passed  under  the  new  state  constitution,  which  Judge 
Phillips  had  helped  to  frame.     The  winter  that  preceded  was  the  famous  "hard 
winter  ;  "  the  "  dark  day  "  had  occurred  in  the  spring  ;  and  the  Boston  news- 
papers told  of  Arnold's  treason  the  day  after  the  charter  was  granted  to  the 
academy  !     TAYLOR,  Memoir  of  Samuel  Phillips,  pp.  215-217. 

2  Id.,  p.  260,  foot-note. 


198          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  founders  expressed  in  their  Constitution  the  hope  that 
their  school  might  lead  to  the  establishment  of  others  on 
the  same  principles ;  and  John  Phillips  proceeded  without 
delay  to  insure  the  realization  of  this  hope.  The  Phillips 
Exeter  Academy,  which  he  endowed  in  his  home  town,  was 
incorporated  by  the  legislature  of  New  Hampshire  by  act  of 
April  3,  1781.  The  charter  follows  so  closely  the  wording 
of  that  of  the  Andover  school  that  it  calls  for  no  special 
remark,  except  that  the  number  of  trustees  provided  in 
this  case  was  seven  instead  of  thirteen.  A  "  constitution  " 
was  drawn  up  by  the  founder,  expressed  for  the  most  part 
in  the  same  terms  as  the  similar  document  for  Phillips 
Andover. 

The  original  endowment  consisted  of  wild  lands  and 
interest-bearing  notes,  the  total  value  of  which  was  esti- 
mated before  the  death  of  the  founder  at  £8,000.  A  later 
estimate,  which  includes  the  value  of  Dr.  Phillips'  bequests 
to  the  academy,  shows  that  the  institution  received  from  its 
founder,  all  told,  an  amount  not  far  from  sixty-five  thousand 
dollars.1 

The  school  was  opened  early  in  1783,  and  on  the  first  of 
May  of  that  year  there  was  a  formal  dedication  of  the  build- 
ing erected  for  its  use.  The  first  principal,  William  Wood- 
bridge,  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health,  after  five  years  of 
service.  Then  came  Benjamin  Abbot,  who  ruled  over  the 
institution  with  great  power  and  wisdom  for  the  term  of 
fifty  years.  Little  Daniel  Webster  came  to  him  for  school- 
ing in  1796.  Edward  Everett  finished  his  preparation  for 
college  here,  at  the  age  of  thirteen.  Lewis  Cass  came  to  the 
school  at  the  age  of  ten,  a  headstrong  boy,  fond  of  pranks 
and  of  out-door  life ;  and  here  he  remained  for  five  years 
and  made  a  very  good  record.  The  standard  of  scholarship 
was  low  at  the  start.  There  were  only  two  studying  Latin 
when  Benjamin  Abbot  appeared  on  the  scene.  But  under 
his  management  the  academy  was  speedily  advanced  to  the 
foremost  rank  of  American  schools. 

1  CUNNINGHAM,  Familiar  sketches,  pp.  69-72. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  199 

There  followed  in  quick  succession  a  notable  line  of  such 
foundations  :  Leicester  and  Derby  and  Groton  Academies  in 
Massachusetts,  Clinton  Academy  and  Erasmus  Hall  on 
Long  Island,  Morris  Academy  at  Morristown,  New  Jersey, 
the  Bingham  School  at  Pittsboro,  North  Carolina,  and  many 
others  that  gained  a  goodly  fame. 

In  WINTERBOTHAM'S  View  of  the  American  United  States, 
we  have  a  general  account  of  education  in  the  several  states 
during  Washington's  second  presidential  term.  So  much  of 
this  view  as  relates  to  secondary  education  may  be  sum- 
marized as  follows : 

New  Hampshire.  —  The  old  laws  required  every  town  of 
one  hundred  families  to  keep  a  grammar  school.  This  law 
fell  somewhat  into  neglect  before  the  war,  and  still  more  in 
later  years.  The  unhappy  state  of  science  and  of  virtue  dur- 
ing this  period  excited  philanthropic  persons  to  devise  other 
methods  of  education.  The  result  was  the  founding  of 
academies.  The  Phillips  Academy  at  Exeter  is  particularly 
described,  and  those  at  New  Ipswich,  Atkinson,  Amherst, 
Charlestown,  and  Concord  are  mentioned  briefly. 

Massachusetts.  —  The  laws  relating  to  elementary  schools 
and  grammar  schools  in  towns  are  mentioned,  and  the  re- 
mark follows : 

"  These  laws  respecting  schools  are  not  so  well  regarded 
in  many  parts  of  the  state  as  the  wise  purposes  which  they 
were  intended  to'  answer,  and  the  happiness  of  the  people 
require."  Of  Boston  it  is  said:  "There  are  seven  public 
schools,  supported  wholly  at  the  expense  of  the  town,  and 
in  which  the  children  of  every  class  of  citizens  freely  asso- 
ciate. .  .  .  Perhaps  there  is  not  a  town  in  the  world,  the 
youth  of  which  more  fully  enjoy  the  benefits  of  school  edu- 
cation, than  at  Boston." 1  The  writer  continues  <  "  Next  in 

1  We  find  in  this  account  of  the  schools  of  Boston  an  instance  of  the  early 
use  of  the  expression  "grammar  schools  "  in  a  sense  somewhat  like  that  which 
now  commonly  attaches  to  the  expression  in  this  country.  The  seven  schools 
of  Bostp''jire  enumerated  as  "the  Latin  grammar  school;"  "  the  three  Eng- 
lish giMmmar  schools,"  in  which  "  the  children  of  both  sexes,  from  seven  to 


200          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

importance  to  the  grammar  schools  are  the  academies,  in 
which,  as  well  as  in  the  grammar  schools,  young  gentlemen 
are  fitted  for  admission  to  the  university."  Mention  is  made 
of  the  Dummer,  Phillips,  Leicester,  Williamstown,  and 
Taunton  academies,  and  the  Derby  School  at  Hingham. 

Maine.  —  Four  academies  are  mentioned,  those  of  Hallo- 
well,  Berwick,  Fryeburg,  and  Machias,  which  "  have  been 
incorporated  by  the  legislature,  and  endowed  with  handsome 
grants  of  the  public  lands." 

Rhode  Island.  —  The  ignorance  of  "  the  bulk  of  the  in- 
habitants "  is  remarked.  An  exception  is  made  in  favor  of 
Providence  and  Newport.  "At  Newport  there  is  a  nourish- 
ing academy,  under  the  direction  of  a  rector  and  tutors, 
who  teach  the  learned  languages,  English  grammar,  geog- 
raphy, &c." 

Connecticut.  —  "  In  no  part  of  the  world  is  the  education 
of  all  ranks  of  people  more  attended  to  than  in  Connecticut." 
The  provision  for  county  grammar  schools  is  noted.  Men- 
tion is  made  of  the  Hopkins  grammar  schools  at  Hartford 
and  New  Haven.  "Academies  have  been  established  at 
Greenfield,  Plainfield,  Norwich,  Wyndham,  and  Pomfret, 
some  of  which  are  flourishing." 

New  York.  —  "  There  are  eight  incorporated  academies  in 
different  parts  of  the  State ;  but  parts  of  the  country  are  yet 
either  unfurnished  with  schools,  or  the  schools  which  they 
have  are  kept  by  low,  ignorant  men,  which  are  worse  than 
none.  .  .  .  We  are  happy  to  add  that  the  legislature  have 
lately  patronized  collegiate  and  academic  education,  by  grant- 
ing a  large  gratuity  to  the  college?  and  academies  in  this 
State,  which,  in  addition  to  their  former  funds,  renders  their 
endowments  handsome,  and  adequate  to  their  expenditures." 

fourteen  years  of  age,  are  instructed  in  spelling,  accenting  and  reading  the 
English  language,  both  prose  and  verse,  with  propriety,  also  in  English  gram- 
mar and  composition,  together  with  the  rudiments  of  geography  ;  "  and  "  the 
other  three  schools,"  in  which"  the  same  children  are  taught  writing  and  arith- 
metic." This  nomenclature  was  probably  taken  from  the  new  rules  for  the 
schools  of  Boston,  drawn  up  in  1789. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  201 

New  Jersey.  —  Of  Nassau  Hall  (Princeton)  it  is  said : 
"  There  is  a  grammar  school  of  about  twenty  scholars,  con- 
nected with  the  college,  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
president,  and  taught  sometimes  by  a  senior  scholar,  and 
sometimes  by  a  graduate ; "  and  of  Queen's  College  (now 
Rutgers):  "  The  grammar  school,  which  is  connected  with 
the  college,  consists  of  between  thirty  and  forty  students, 
under  the  care  of  the  trustees."  The  academies  of  the  state 
are  commended,  and  seven  of  them  receive  individual  men- 
tion :  viz.,  those  of  Freehold,  Trenton,  Hackensack,  Orange- 
dale,  Elizabethtown,  Burlington,  and  Newark.  "  Besides 
these,  there  are  grammar  schools  at  Springfield,  Morristown, 
Bordentown,  Amboy,  &c." 

Pennsylvania.  —  The  academy  at  Philadelphia  is  men- 
tioned. "The  Episcopalians  have  an  academy  at  York 
town,  in  York  county.  There  are  also  academies  at  German 
town,  at  Pittsburgh,  at  Washington,  at  Allen's  town,  and 
other  places ;  these  are  endowed  by  donations  from  the 
legislature,  and  by  liberal  contributions  of  individuals." 
"  The  schools  for  young  men  and  young  women  in  Bethle- 
hem and  Nazareth,  under  the  direction  of  the  people  called 
Moravians,  are  upon  the  best  establishment  of  any  schools 
in  America." 

Maryland.  —  Washington  Academy  is  mentioned,  and  the 
fact  that  "provision  is  made  for  free  schools  in  most  of 
the  counties ;  though  some  are  entirely  neglected,  and  very 
few  carried  on  with  any  success.  .  .  .  But  the  revolution, 
among  other  happy  effects,  has  roused  the  spirit  of  educa- 
tion, which  is  fast  spreading  its  salutary  influences  over  this 
and  the  other  southern  States." 

Virginia.  — "  There  are  several  academies  in  Virginia  ; 
one  at  Alexandria,  one  at  Norfolk,  and  others  in  other 
places."  The  great  scheme  of  public  education  for  Vir- 
ginia which  had  been  proposed  —  under  Jefferson's  leader- 
ship—  is  summarized,  and  its  provisions  are  cordially 
approved. 

North  Carolina.  —  "  There  is  a  good  academy  at  Warren- 


202          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

ton,  another  at  Williamsborough  in  Granville,  and  three  or 
four  others  in  the  State,  of  considerable  note." 

South  Carolina.  —  "  Gentlemen  of  fortune,  before  the  late 
war,  sent  their  sons  to  Europe  for  education.  During  the 
late  war  and  since,  they  have  generally  sent  them  to  the 
middle  and  northern  states.  Those  who  have  been  at  this 
expense  in  educating  their  sons,  have  been  but  compara- 
tively few  in  number,  so  that  the  literature  of  the  State  is 
at  a  low  ebb.  Since  the  peace,  however,  it  has  begun  to 
flourish.  There  are  several  respectable  academies  at  Charles- 
ton; one  at  Beaufort  on  Port  Koyal  island;  and  several 
others  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  .  .  .  Part  of  the  old 
barracks  at  Charleston  has  been  handsomely  fitted  up,  and 
converted  into  a  college,  and  there  are  a  number  of  students ; 
but  it  does  not  yet  merit  a  more  dignified  name  than  that 
of  a  respectable  academy.  .  .  .  The  college  at  Cambridge 
is  no  more  than  a  grammar  school." 

Georgia.  —  The  act  for  the  establishment  of  "  The  Univer- 
sity of  Georgia,"  with  its  provision  for  an  academy  in  each 
county,  receives  extended  notice.1 


BIBLIOGEAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  histories  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  by  WOOD,  THORPE,  and 
MONTGOMERY,  and  the  Works  of  FRANKLIN,  edited  by  JOHN  BIGELOW, 
especially  volume  I.,  containing  the  Autobiography,  are  rich  in  material 
relating  to  the  early  history  of  the  Academy  at  Philadelphia. 

For  the  two  Phillips  academies  we  have  much  scattered  information  and 
two  or  three  volumes  of  importance.  TAYLOR'S  Memoir  of  Samuel 

1  Op.  rit.,  II.  and  III.,  passim.  In  this  and  the  following  chapters,  no 
attempt  is  made  to  limit  closely  the  use  of  the  term  academy.  While  we 
may  speak  of  an  "academy  type,"  in  recognition  of  certain  dominant  ten- 
dencies in  the  schools  of  this  period,  it  will  be  remembered  that  this  type  is 
rather  loosely  denned  and  has  admitted  of  much  variation.  In  the  narrower 
sense  an  academy,  in  this  country,  is  an  incorporated,  undenominational 
school  of  secondary  grade,  under  the  control  of  a  self- perpetuating  board  of 
trustees,  and  not  conducted  for  pecuniary  profit.  But  institutions  bearing 
this  designation  may  differ  from  one  another  in  any  of  these  particulars. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  ACADEMIES  203 

Phillips,  PARK'S  Annals,  and  the  works  on  the  Phillips  Exeter  Academy 
by  BELL  and  CUNNINGHAM  have  been  chiefly  consulted. 

W.  WINTERBOTHAM'S  work  is  in  four  volumes,  and  is  entitled  An  histor- 
ical, geographical,  commercial,  and  philosophical  view  of  the  American 
United  States,  and  of  the  European  settlements  in  America  and  the  Vest 
Indies.  London:  Printed  for  the  Editor,  1795.  Extended  excerpts  are 
given  in  BARNARD'S  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXIV.,  pp.  137-157. 


CHAPTER   X 
EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

WE  have  come  to  the  time  when  French  thought  is  to 
exercise  an  appreciable  influence  on  American  education. 
The  philosophical  and  revolutionary  literature  of  France  in 
the  eighteenth  century  was  full  of  educational  theories,  and 
the  tendency  of  these  theories  was  strongly  secular.  Along 
with  the  doctrine  that  education  should  return  to  nature 
appeared  the  doctrine  that  the  direction  of  education  should 
return  to  the  state. 

We  find  Helvetius  pushing  the  claims  of  education  to  the 
last  extreme,  making  it  all-powerful  in  the  determination  of 
human  character.  He  deplored  the  fact  that  instruction 
was  pulled  this  way  and  that  by  the  opposing  demands  of 
church  and  state,  and  would  put  an  end  to  this  difficulty  by 
simply  having  the  state  absorb  the  church.  We  find  La 
Chalotais  taking  a  leading  part  in  the  campaign  for  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  and  putting  forth  his  idea  of  edu- 
cational organization  in  the  Essai  d  education  nationale. 
We  find  Voltaire  describing  education  as  a  "government 
undertaking."  We  find  Turgot  declaring  that,  "  the  study  of 
the  duty  of  citizenship  ought  to  be  the  foundation  of  all 
the  other  studies." 

"I  do  not  presume  to  exclude  ecclesiastics,"  said  La 
Chalotais,  "  but  I  protest  against  the  exclusion  of  laymen. 
I  dare  claim  for  the  nation  an  education  which  depends 
only  on  the  state,  because  it  belongs  essentially  to  the  state  ; 
because  every  state  has  an  inalienable  and  indefeasible  right 
to  instruct  its  members;  because,  finally,  the  children  of 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  205 

the  state  ought  to  be  educated  by  the  members  of  the 
state." l 

Into  the  midst  of  this  discussion  came  Kousseau  with  the 
enlivening  abstractions  and  impossibilities  of  the  fimile. 
Numerous  other  educational  essays  and  treatises  were  put 
forth.  But  of  especial  significance  for  its  suggestions  rela- 
tive to  the  making  of  systems  of  instruction,  was  the  Plan 
of  a  university  drawn  up  by  Diderot,  for  Catherine  of  Russia, 
about  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution. 

"  A  university,"  wrote  Diderot,  "  is  a  school  which  is  open 
without  discrimination  to  all  the  children  of  a  nation, 
where  masters  paid  by  the  state  initiate  them  into  the 
elementary  knowledge  of  all  sciences."  He  compared  the 
course  of  instruction  to  "  a  great  avenue,  at  the  entrance  of 
which  appears  a  crowd  of  people  who  cry  out  continually, 
'  Instruction,  instruction  !  We  know  nothing  unless  we  be 
taught.' "  Some  can  go  farther  on  this  avenue  than  others. 
The  studies  should  be  arranged  accordingly.  Such  as  are 
most  generally  useful  should  come  first :  the  essential  or 
primitive  knowledges,  which  all  should  have.  Such  studies 
as  are  next  in  usefulness  —  those  needed  by  the  greatest 
number  less  than  the  whole  people  —  should  follow;  and 
so  on  to  the  end. 

Reading,  writing,  and  the  first  principles  of  arithmetic 
should  be  mastered  before  the  pupil  enters  this  public 
school.  Having  entered,  he  first  comes  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  faculty  of  arts.  Here  he  is  offered  a  course  of 
study,  divided  into  eight  classes,  comprising  the  mathe- 
matical and  natural  sciences,  logic,  the  languages,  and 
rhetoric.  Parallel  with  this  arejbwo  other  courses,  which 
all  will  take :  one  in  metaphysics,  morals,  religion,  history, 
geography,  and  economics ;  the  other  in  drawing  and  the 
principles  of  architecture.  There  is  a  suggestion,  too  remote 
for  serious  consideration  in  the  eighteenth  century,  of  a 

1  Cf.  CoMPAYRri,  History  of  pedagogy,  ch.  14-16 ;  and  SHERWOOD, 
The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  (Circ.  Inf.  no.  3,  1900),  pt.  1, 
ch.  3. 


206          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

course  of  "  exercises,"  —  music,  dancing,  horsemanship,  and 
swimming.  A  prophecy  is  added,  that  the  day  will  come 
when  schools  of  agriculture  and  commerce  will  be  estab- 
lished, whether  within  or  without  the  university,  not  only 
in  the  cities  but  in  the  remoter  country  districts  of  the 
realm. 

After  the  faculty  of  arts  come  the  other  traditional  facul- 
ties of  medicine,  jurisprudence,  and  theology.  It  is  evident 
from  his  earlier  Essai  sur  les  etudes  en  Russie,  that  Diderot 
was  influenced  to  some  extent,  in  the  making  of  this  scheme, 
by  his  knowledge  of  the  universities  and  gymnasiums  of  Ger- 
many. But  in  many  particulars  he  drew  far  apart  from  his 
German  models.  His  university  was  an  institution  for  the 
education  of  the  whole  people,  beyond  the  first  elements  of 
learning.  He  entered  an  eloquent  plea  for  the  education^ 
all.  The  thatched  cottages  of  the  realm,  he  declared,  were 
to  the  palaces  in  the  proportion  of  ten  thousand  to  one ;  so 
the  likelihood  was  as  ten  thousand  to  one  that  genius, 
talent,  and  virtue  would  emerge  from  a  cottage  rather  than 
from  a  palace.1 

It  was  the  French  view  of  the  administration  of  educa- 
tional affairs  by  the  state,  rather  than  the  doctrine  of  natural- 
ism, which  became  influential  in  this  country  at  an  early  ^ 
period.  And  we  are  not  surprised  that  Thomas  Jefferson 
should  have  been  one  of  the  first  Americans  to  respond  to 
this  influence. 

Jefferson  drew  suggestions  from  so  wide  a  range  of  con- 
ference and  reading,  that  his  schemes  cannot  be  looked  upon 
as  a  mere  working  out  of  French  ideas.  Far  from  it.  He 
learned  from  Switzerland  and  Scotland  and  Old^and  New 
England  and  from  many  other  sources,  and  reacted  vigor- 
ously on  all  that  came  to  him.  But  the  French  influence  is 
more  conspicuous  in  his  proposals  than  any  other  that  has 
not  already  appeared  in  this  narrative. 

In  1779  Jefferson,  as  a  member  of  the  committee  appointed 
to  revise  the  laws  of  Virginia,  presented  to  the  legislature  of 

1  (Euvres  de  Denis  Diderot,  XII.,  pp.  153-234. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  207 

the  state  a  comprehensive  bill,  "  For  the  more  general  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge."  Some  of  the  more  important  provisions 
of  this  bill  are  summarized  in  his  Notes  on  the  state  of 
Virginia : 

"  This  bill  proposes  to  lay  off  every  county  into  small  districts 
of  five  or  six  miles  square,  called  hundreds,  and  in  each  of  them 
to  establish  a  school  for  teaching  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
The  tutor  to  be  supported  by  the  hundred,  and  every  person  in  it 
entitled  to  send  their  children  three  years  gratis,  and  as  much 
longer  as  they  please,  paying  for  it.  These  schools  to  be  under  a 
visitor,  who  is  annually  to  chuse  the  boy,  of  best  genius  in  the 
school,  of  those  whose  parents  are  too  poor  to  give  them  further 
education,  and  to  send  him  forward  to  one  of  the  grammar  schools, 
of  which  twenty  are  proposed  to  be  erected  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  for  teaching  Greek,  Latin,  geography,  and  the  higher 
branches  of  numerical  arithmetic.  Of  the  boys  thus  sent  in  any 
one  year,  trial  is  to  be  made  at  the  grammar  schools  one  or  two 
years,  and  the  host  genius  of  the  whole  selected,  and  continued 
six  years,  and  the  rescue  dismissed.  By  this  means  twenty  of  the 
best  geniuses  will  be  raked  from  the  rubbish  annually,  and  be 
instructed,  at  the  public  expence,  so  far  as  the  grammar  schools  go. 
At  the  end  of  six  years  instruction,  one  half  are  to  be  discontinued 
(from  among  whom  the  grammar  schools  will  probably  be  supplied 
with  future  masters)  ;  and  the  other  half,  who  are  to  be  chosen  for 
the  superiority  of  their  parts  and  disposition,  are  to  be  sent  and 
continued  three  years  in  the  study  of  such  sciences  as  they  shall 
chuse,  at  William  and  Mary  college,  the  plan  of  which  is  proposed 
to  be  enlarged,  .  .  .  and  extended  to  all  the  useful  sciences.  The 
ultimate  result  of  the  whole  scheme  of  education  would  be  the 
teaching  all  the  children  of  the  state  reading,  writing,  and  com- 
mon arithmetic  :  turning  out  ten  annually  of  superior  genius,  well 
taught  in  Greek,  Latin,  geography,  and  the  higher  branches  of 
arithmetic  :  turning  out  ten  others  annually,  of  still  superior  parts, 
who,  to  those  branches  of  learning,  shall  have  added  such  of  the 
sciences  as  their  genius  shall  have  led  them  to :  the  furnishing  to 
the  wealthier  part  of  the  people  convenient  schools,  at  which  their 
children  may  be  educated,  at  their  own  expense.  ...  Of  all  the 
views  of  this  law  none  is  more  important,  none  more  legitimate, 


r 


208          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

than  that  of  rendering  the  people  the  safe,  as  they  are  the  ultimate 
guardians  of  their  own  liberty.  For  this  purpose  the  reading  in 
the  first  stage,  where  they  will  receive  their  whole  education,  is 
proposed,  as  has  been  said,  to  be  chiefly  historical.  History  by 
apprising  them  of  the  past  will  enable  them  to  judge  of  the 
future."  l 

Some  of  these  ideas  were  embodied  in  the  law  of  1796. 
But  that  law  left  it  to  the  justices  of  the  several  coun-" 
ties  to  inaugurate  schools,  and  the  whole  plan  fell  in 
consequence  to  the  ground.  If  Jefferson's  idea  had  been 
carried  out,  it  would  have  opened  up  to  every  boy  in  Vir- 
ginia, no  matter  how  poor,  the  possibility  of  securing  a  well- 
rounded,  collegiate  education.2 

Although  Jefferson's  earlier  scheme  was  not  realized,  the 
failure  did  not  prevent  him  from  accomplishing  in  his  old 
age  the  establishment  of  a  state  university  in  Virginia.  His 
ideas  were  widely  influential ;  yet  it  would  be  difficult 
to  point  to  any  systematic  application  of  them  in  a  state 
establishment  of  education,  unless  it  be  in  the  early  educa- 
tional system  of  Missouri.  In  1839,  Missotiri-  provided  by 
law  for  an  imposing  state  system  of  schools,  consisting  of  a 
central  university,  with  colleges  and  academies  in  different 
parts  of  the  commonwealth.  But  the  scheme  was  too  elab- 
orate and  expensive,  and  was  never  carried  out3 

There  was  however  one  piece  of  broad,  creative  legisla- 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  243-249.     The  text  of  this  bill  is  given  in  The  ivritings  of 
Thomas  Jefferson  (edited  by  Paul  Leicester  Ford),  II.,  pp.    220-229  ;  and  the 
bill   for  amending  the  constitution  of  William   and   Mary  College  follows, 
pp.  229-235. 

2  Cf.  ADAMS,   Thomas  Jefferson  and  the  University  of  Virginia.     In  later 
legislation,  the  secondary  schools  were  less  fortunate  than  those  of  the  higher 
and  the  lower  grades.     In  1817-18,   "It  was  decided  not  to  interfere  with 
education   except  in  the  points  where  it  could  not  be  safely  left  to  individual 
enterprise,  viz.,  in  the  case  of  persons  too  poor  to  pay  for  it  themselves  and  in 
that  where  the  expense  and  magnitude  of  the  subject  defied  individual  enter- 
prise, as  in  case  of  a  university."     Jefferson  and  Cabell  correspondence,  quoted 
by  BLACKMAR,  Federal  and  state  aid,  p.  174. 

8  BLACKMAR,  op.  cit.,  p.  286.  SNOW,  Higher  education  in  Missouri,  ch.  1  : 
The  University  of  the  slate  of  Missouri,  by  THOMAS  JEFFERSON  LOWRY. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  209 

tion  which  was  carried  to  some  sort  of  completion  in  this  time. 
The  system  of  educational  administration  devised  for  the 
state  of  New  York,  shows  unmistakably  the  working  of  French 
ideas,  and  has  in  its  turn  exercised  a  considerable  influence. 

The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  was  established 
hy  legislative  enactment  in  1784,  but  did  not  assume  its 
present  form  till  a  new  organization  was  adopted  in  1787. 
This  university  was  not  established  as  a  local  institution 
nor  as  a  teaching  body.  It  was  intended  to  combine  in  one 
comprehensive  organism  all  educational  institutions  having 
a  corporate  existence  in  the  state.  At  the  outset,  the  regents 
of  the  University  and  the  trustees  of  Columbia  College  were 
one  body,  and  it  was  proposed  to  make  the  college  the  head 
and  mistress  of  the  whole  educational  system.  The  chief 
opposition  'to  this  arrangement  came  from  the  outlying 
counties,  which  were  just  then  becoming  desirous  of  having 
academies  established  within  their  borders. 

One  of  the  leading  representatives  of  the  college  party 
was  Alexander  Hamilton.  The  foremost  man  in  the  acad- 
emy party  was  Ezra  L'Hommedieu.  The  legislation  of 
1787,  commonly  represented  as  embodying  the  individual 
plan  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  seems  rather  to  have  been  the 
result  of  a  friendly  compromise  between  the  opposing  fac- 
tions. It  separated  the  board  of  Eegents  from  the  boards 
of  trustees  of  Columbia  College  and  of  any  other  colleges  or 
academies  which  might  be  established  within  the  University. 
It  seems  to  have  been  intended  that  the  University  should 
embrace  the  elementary  schools  of  the  state  as  well  as  in- 
stitutions of  secondary  and  higher  education.  But  the 
higher  schools  were  provided  first,  and  when  a  state  system 
of  elementary  schools  was  established,  at  the  prompting  of 
the  University,  it  was  made  a  separate  organization.  The 
University  then  embraced  and  now  embraces  practically 
the  whole  provision  for  secondary  and  higher  education  in 
the  state.1 

1  In  HILDRETH'S  History  of  the  United  States  (III.,  pp.  386-387)  appear  the 
following  statements  with  reference  to  this  university  :  "Through  the  pro- 

14 


210       THE  MAKING  OP  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

After  assistance  had  been  extended  to  the  academies  of 
the  state  for  nearly  thirty  years,  in  a  somewhat  irregular 
fashion,  through  land  grants  and  special  legislative  appro- 
priations in  money,  an  act  was  passed  in  1813  establishing 
a  permanent  fund,  known  as  the  Literature  Fund.  The 
income  from  this  fund  was,  and  is  now,  applied  wholly  to 
the  support  of  secondary  schools.  The  principal  amounted 
by  1832  to  nearly  sixty  thousand  dollars.  It  has  been 
supplemented  from  time  to  time  by  the  income  fronr- 
lotteries  (in  1801),  by  direct  appropriations  of  state  funds, 
and  by  various  other  means ;  and  has  contributed  greatly  to 
the  building  up  of  academic  education. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  educational  policy  of  several  of 
our  states  was  influenced  by  this  great  and  striking  piece  of 
university  making  in  New  York,  though  the  lines  of  con- 
nection are  not  always  easy  to  trace.  Dr.  Sherwood  makes 
a  large  claim  when  he  says  that,  "  Wherever  the  '  State 

curement  of  Hamilton,  the  New  York  Assembly  presently  passed  an  act 
erecting  a  board  of  twenty-one  members,  called  '  Regents  of  the  University  of 
the  State  of  New  York,'  ...  a  board  afterward  imitated  in  France,  and 
which  still  continues  to  exist."  Dr.  Sherwood  has  shown  that  this  legislation 
was  not  brought  about  by  "the  procurement  of  Hamilton"  in  any  exclusive 
sense.  The  question  whether  Napoleon  consciously  imitated  the  state  of  New 
York  when  he  came  to  establish  the  University  of  France  is  not  an  easy  one. 
It  would  probably  be  safer  to  say  that  both  Napoleon  and  the  New  York 
legislators  were  largely  influenced  and  guided  by  the  same  French  educational 
theorists,  and  notably  by  Diderot  and  Condorcet.  Yet  this  may  not  tell  the 
whole  story.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  Sherwood,  "  The  similarity  which  Napo- 
leon's University  of  1808  bore  to  the  New  York  University  of  1787  may  not 
be  a  mere  coincidence  when  it  is  seen  that  Condorcet  and  Fourcroy  were  thus 
early  aware  of  what  was  being  done  in  America  for  education.  And  Talley- 
rand's intimacy  with  Hamilton  on  his  visit  to  America  may  not  have  been 
without  effect  upon  the  reconstruction  of  French  education.  If  France  may 
claim  to  have  given  New  York  the  ideal  of  a  symmetrical  state  system  of 
secular  learning,  New  York  may  claim  to  have  given  to  France  the  practical 
form  of  such  a  system,  in  its  all-inclusive  university  corporation."  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  p.  272. 

Of.  DR.  SHERWOOD'S  later  work  on  the  same  subject  (Circ.  Inf.,  no.  3, 
1900),  in  which  he  says,  "The  weight  of  evidence  goes  to  show  that  before 
the  formation  of  our  national  government  in  1789,  the  source  of  the  new  ideas 
was  French,  rather  than  American ;  while,  after  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
revolution  in  1789,  the  current  runs  from  America  to  France."  Op.  cit.t  p.  97. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  211 

university '  is  governed  by  a  body  of  regents  who  Jhave  no 
teaching  functions  and  who  are  appointed  by  the  political 
authority  and  are  accountable  to  the  people  in  their  political 
capacity  there  is  found  the  influence  of  this  unique  inven- 
tion, 'the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.'"1  The 
assertion  may  be  true.  It  would  be  difficult  either  to  prove 
or  to  disprove  it.  But  there  are  a  few  instances  in  which 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  that  influence  has  been  direct 
and  powerful. 

Georgia  followed  hard  after  New  York  in  the  founding 
of  the  University  of  Georgia  in  1785.  The  bill  for  this 
establishment  provided  that  "  All  public  schools,  instituted, 
or  to  be  supported  by  funds  or  public  moneys  in  this  state, 
shall  be  considered  as  parts  or  members  of  the  University." 
Each  county  was  to  have  an  academy,  which  was  to  be  a 
part  of  the  university.  The  crown  of  the  whole  system  was 
to  be  a  central  college.  The  growth  of  this  university 
has  been  mainly  at  the  top.  Franklin  College,  its  vital 
centre,  has  been  in  existence  since  1801.  About  this  have 
been  grouped  several  departments,  as  in  ordinary  univer- 
sity organization.  The  original  plan  of  making  the  univer- 
sity a  comprehensive  system  of  state  education,  is  still 
recalled  by  the  existence,  in  different  parts  of  the  state,  of 
five  "  branch  colleges,"  which  are  of  the  nature  of  technical 
schools.2 

It  may  be  merely  a  coincidence  that  the  scheme  of  organi- 
zation which  brought  all  public  schools,  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest,  under  a  single  administrative  system,  should 
have  found  favor  in  certain  sections  in  which  the  French- 
speaking  population  was  relatively  large.  The  early  history 
of  Louisiana  is  rich  in  educational  plans  and  experiments, 
which  were  projected  on  a  liberal  scale.  The  story  of 
these  undertakings  has  been  well  told  by  Dr.  Fay. 

Soon  after  Louisiana  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
United  States,  a  legislative  act  was  passed  "  to  institute  an 

1   Circ.   Inf.,  no.  3,  1900,  p.  100. 

a  JONES,  Education  in  Georgia.,  passim. 


212          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

university  in  the  Territory  of  Orleans."  The  regents  of  this 
university  were  certain  civil  officers  of  the  territory,  and 
others  elected  by  the  legislature  for  life,  as  in  the  New 
York  scheme.  This  body  was  directed  to  set  up  a  "  College 
of  New  Orleans,"  and  one  or  more  academies  in  each  county 
within  the  territory;  and  they  were  especially  enjoined  to 
establish  as  many  academies  as  they  might  judge  fit  "  for 
the  instruction  of  the  youth  of  the  female  sex  in  the 
English  and  French  languages,  and  in  such  branches  of 
polite  literature  and  such  liberal  arts  and  accomplishments 
as  may  be  suitable  to  the  age  and  sex  of  the  pupils."  In 
addition  to  all  this  it  was  made  the  duty  of  the  regents 
to  provide  public  libraries  in  the  several  counties.  Two 
annual  lotteries  were  authorized  for  the  support  of  this 
great  undertaking. 

The  provision  for  lotteries  was  soon  revoked,  and  in  its 
stead  direct  appropriations  were  made  from  the  treasury  of 
the  state.  Important  beginnings  were  made  by  the  regents 
in  the  establishment  of  the  proposed  college  and  secondary 
schools ;  but  in  1821  this  system  of  administration  was 
abandoned,  the  board  of  regents  was  abolished,  and  the 
several  institutions  were  continued  under  separate  boards 
of  control.  In  1826  the  college  was  given  up  and  a  central 
school  and  two  primary  schools  were  established  in  its 
place.  Dr.  Gayarre*'s  reminiscences  of  the  college,  as  re- 
ported by  Dr.  Fay,  are  full  of  interest. 

The  proposed  academies  seem  to  have  come  into  existence 
in  twelve  counties  about  the  year  1811.  They  were  sup- 
ported in  part  by  state  appropriations  and  in  part  by  parish 
taxes.  Tuition  fees  were  imposed,  but  with  a  provision  for 
"beneficiary  students."  In  Louisiana,  as  in  other  portions 
of  the  country,  the  period  from  the  thirties  to  the  sixties 
of  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  time  of  a  slow  and 
painful  working  up  toward  the  abolition  of  tuition  fees  and 
the  establishment  of  complete  systems  of  free  public  schools. 
This  movement  played  a  large  part  in  the  making  of  public 
education  during  that  period. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  213 

In  the  twenties,  Louisiana  began  subsidizing  certain  col- 
leges and  academies,  which  are  described  as  of  a  mixed 
type,  "  on  the  border  line  between  the  colleges  proper  and 
the  academies."  The  College  of  Rapides,  the  College  of 
Baton  Rouge,  and  the  Academy  of  Natchitoches,  are  exam- 
ples. A  little  later,  in  1833,  the  practice  of  granting  state 
subsidies  to  ordinary  academies,  secondary  institutions  in- 
corporated under  self-perpetuating  boards  of  trustees,  was 
begun,  the  Montpellier  Academy  being  the  first  to  receive 
such  encouragement.  In  all  of  these  cases,  the  bounty  of 
the  state  seems  to  have  been  granted  on  condition  of  the 
free  schooling  of  a  number  of  "indigent  students."  Such 
was  the  general  movement  of  public  secondary  education 
in  this  state  up  to  the  year  1847,  when  the  first  free-school 
act  was  passed,  soon  followed  by  the  establishment  of  the 
State  Seminary  of  Learning."  l 

The  present  University  of  Michigan  is  the  third  of  a 
series  of  institutions  incorporated  in  the  attempt  to  estab- 
lish a  comprehensive  system  of  public  instruction.  The 
first  was  the  Catholepistemiad  or  University  of  Michigania, 
established  by  territorial  enactment  in  1817.  This  was 
certainly  one  of  the  most  whimsical  institutions  of  educa- 
tion ever  devised  by  man.  Yet  it  embodied  an  impos- 
ing and  comprehensive  scheme  of  education  of  the  several 
grades  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  "  The  president  and 
didactors,  or  professors,"  were  given  power,  among  other 
things,  "to  establish  colleges,  academies,  schools,  libraries, 
musaeums,  athenoeums,  botanic  gardens,  laboratories,  and 
other  useful  literary  and  scientific  institutions,  consonant 
to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  of  America  and  of  Michi- 
gan, and  to  appoint  officers,  instructors  and  instructri  in, 
among  and  throughout  the  various  counties,  cities,  towns, 
townships  and  other  geographical  divisions  of  Michigan."2 

1  FAY,  History  of  education  in  Louisiana,  chs.  2  and  3,  pp.  27-79. 
a  Laws  of  the  Territory,  II.,  pp.  104-106. 

The  territorial  government  of  Michigan  followed  in  its  legislation  the  well- 
established  precedents  to  be  found  in  the  statutes  of  the  states  then  in  exist- 


214         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

In  fact,  several  primary  schools  were  opened  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act;  a  classical  school  was  organized  in 
Detroit  in  1818;  and  the  "First  College  of  Michigania" 
was  established  in  the  same  city  in  1817. 

This  act  was  repealed  in  1821  and  in  place  of  the  Cathol- 
epistemiad  there  was  set  up  a  University  of  Michigan. 
This  university  was  continued  in  the  control  of  the  little 
system  of  schools  already  established.  A  territorial  law_o| 
1827  provided  for  common  schools  in  close  imitation  of  the 
original  educational  policy  of  Massachusetts.  Every  town- 
ship of  fifty  families  was  required  to  provide  a  schoolmaster 
to  teach  the  elementary  branches ;  and  every  township  6T 
two  hundred  families,  to  provide  a  grammar  schoolmaster, 
"well  instructed  in  the  Latin,  French  and  English  lan- 
guages," in  addition  to  the  master  for  an  elementary  school.1 
But  little  was  accomplished,  however,  till  the  admission  of 
Michigan  into  the  Union.  The  legislature  of  the  new 
state  passed  an  act  in  1837  establishing  the  present  state 
university. 

The  statute  for  the  establishment  of  this  University  of 
Michigan  provided  for  the  opening  of  "branches"  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  state.  t  These  branches  were  to  serve 
as  preparatory  schools. and  as  schools  for  the  training  of 
teachers.  The  regents,  as  soon  as  their  board  was  organized, 
began  establishing  such  schools ;  and  apparently  there  were 
nine  in  all  begun  before  this  policy  was  discontinued,  about 
1849.  These  schools  performed  a  good  service  in  promoting 
secondary  education,  in  calling  forth  the  competition  of 
towns  where  they  were  not  established,  and  in  sending 
well-prepared  students  to  the  university.  Their  mainte- 
nance was  too  great  a  tax  on  the  resources  of  the  struggling 
institution.  Yet  there  were  those  who,  when  they  were  at 

ence.  It  was  declared  in  the  law  establishing  the  Catbolepiatemiad  that 
reference  had  been  had  to  the  laws  of  seven  states,  viz. ,  Connecticut,  Massa- 
chusetts, New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia.  The 
New  York  idea,  in  all  probability,  had  considerable  influence  with  the  fraraers 
of  the  measure. 

1  Laws  of  the  Territory,  II.,  pp.  472-477. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEM-  215 

t  given  up,  would  much  rather  have  seen  the  university 
If  closed  and  the  schools  continued.     Several  academies 
been  started  Jind  incorporated,  under  various  names,  in 

lichigan  Territory,  within  the  decade  preceding  the  estab- 
lishment <>f  the  university  by  the  newly  admitted  state. 
AVrht  ri  the  "  branches"  disappeared  a  new  era  had  dawned, 

nd  the  place  of  those  preparatory  schools  was  largely  taken 
by  the  new  "  high  schools."  1 

We  find  the  New  York  idea  cropping  out  here  and  there 
in  the  legislative  schemes  of  other  states.  There  are  traces 
of  it  in  the  educational  history  of  Maryland,  of  Wisconsin,  of 
California.  Yet  it  appears  for  the  most  part  in  the  form 
of  mere  suggestions  or  experiments,  which  came  to  little  or 
nothing.  The  fact  that  f«.r  two  or  three  generations  the 
state  of  New  York  showed  but  little  appreciation  of  the 
significance  of  its  own  system  may  account  in  some  measure 
for  the  relatively  small  influence  which  that  system  exerted 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  state.  Then,  too,  the  rising  interest 
in  elementary  schools  was  turn-  d  a  i  le  into  another  admin- 
istrative rhann«'l.  I.MVIII^  the  university  out  of  the  main 
current  of  public  sentiment.  The  partial  correction  of  these 
in  'stakes  'belongs  to  a  later  period  than  that  now  under 
consideration. 

Other  state  systems,  more  loosely  constructed,  and  show- 
ing little  or  none  of  the  French  influence,  were  coming  into 
existence.  With  the  achievement  of  independence  and -the 
establishment  of  a  more  perfect  union,  there  had  arisen  a 
new  sense  of  educational  responsibility.  But  this  feeling 
found  ex]'ivssion  for  the  most  part  in  administrative  forms 
which  did  not  sharply  diverge  from  practices  that  had 
already  grown  familiar.  The  national  government  granted 
gn-at  areas  from  the  public  domain  to  the  state  govern- 
m.'iits,  to  be  used  in  the  maintenance  of  schools.  Having 
thus  subsidized  education  in  the  states,  it  received  its 
applause  and  withdrew  from  the  stage.  It  did  not  under- 
take to  exercise  any  sort  of  supervision  over  the  manage- 

1  MCLAUGHLIN,  Higher  education  in  Michigan,  passim. 


216          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

ment,  by  the  states,  of  the  school  lands  it  had  granted.  The 
states,  in  their  turn,  incorporated  and  subsidized  private 
educational  undertakings,  and  made  but  little  claim  to 
supervision  over  the  institutions  they  had  aided.  Local  and 
individual  initiative,  generously  encouraged  by  governments 
which  asked  few  questions  and  imposed  few  conditions  — 
such  was  the  prevalent  type  of  educational  administration 
in  this  country  in  the  earlier  history  of  our  national 
independence. 

The  academy  movement,  under  this  system  of  loose  con- 
trol, became  as  powerful  in  Massachusetts,  in  the  face  of  the 
tradition  and  Iegislati6n  which  held  up  the  town  grammar 
schools,  as  in  the  newer  states,  where  it  had  a  clear  field 
from  the  start.  The  high  standard  of  education  under 
public  control,  which  had  been  set  by  the  early  colonists, 
was  gradually  lowered  in  the  school  law  of  this  state.  In 
1789,  if  the  old  law  had  been  strictly  complied  with,  two 
hundred  and  thirty  of  the  Massachusetts  towns,  out  of  a 
total  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-five,  would  have  been 
obliged  to  support  grammar  schools.  In  that  year  a 
general  school  law  was  passed,  in  which  the  old  require- 
ment of  a  grammar  school  in  each  town  of  one  hundred 
families  was  changed  to  a  requirement  of  one  in  each  town 
of  two  huntlred  families.  By  this  change  one  hundred  and 
twenty  of  these  two  hundred  and  thirty  towns  were  released 
from  the  obligation  to  maintain  such  schools.1 

In  1824  another  change  was  made,  relieving  all  towns  of 
less  than  five  thousand  inhabitants  from  the  obligation  to 
support  a  school  of  secondary  grade.2  There  were  at  that 
time  only  seven  towns  in  the  state  having  the  required  popu- 
lation of  five  thousand.  The  letting  down  of  the  require- 
ments with  reference^ to  grammar  schools  may  have  been 
partly  due  in  1789,  and  was  doubtless  due  in  large  measure 
in  1824,  to  the  upgrowth  of  the  new  academies,  and  of  the 
ideas  which  they  represented. 

1  MARTIN,  Massachusetts  public  school  system,  p.  85. 

2  Laws  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,   ch.  3,  sec.  1.      Approved 
February  18,  1824, 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  217 

After  endowing  seven1  individual^  academies  with  grants 
of  public  lands,  Massachusetts  adopted  in  1797  a  general 
policy  with  reference  to  such  grants.  This  policy  was  em- 
bodied in  the  following  declaration  : 

"  First,  that  no  academy,  (at  least  not  already  erected)  ought  to 
be  encouraged  by  government,  unless  it  have  a  neighborhood  to 
support  it  of  at  least  thirty  or  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  not  accom- 
modated in  any  manner  by  any  other  academies,  by  any  college  or 
school  answering  the  purpose  of  an  academy  ;  secondly,  that  every 
such  portion  of  the  commonwealth  ought  to  be  considered  as  equally 
entitled  to  grants  of  State  lands  to  these  institutions,  in  aid  of 
private  donations  ;  and  thirdly,  that  no  State  lands  ought  to  be 
granted  to  any  academy,  but  in  aid  of  permanent  funds,  secured 
by  towns  an(Tindividual  donors  ;  and  therefore,  previous  to  any 
such  grant  of  State  lands,  evidence  ought  to  be  produced  that  such 
funds  are  legally  secured,  at  least  adequate  to  erect  and  repair  the 
necessary  buildings,  to  support  the  corporation,  to  procure  and 
preserve  such  apparatus  and  books  as  may  be  necessary,  and  to  pay 
a  part  of  the  salaries  of  the  preceptors." 

The  eight  academies  then  in  existence  which  had  re- 
ceived no°  state  endowment,  and  the  four  or  five  more  that 
were  necessary  to  make  one  for  every  25,000  of  the  popula- 
tion, were  then  to  receive  each  one-half  township  of  unap- 
propriated lands  in  "the  district  of  Maine."5  With 
characteristic  devotion  to  local  self-government,  Massachu- 
setts proposed  no  further  public  control  of  those  schools 
which  she  had  thus  liberally  endowed.  By  1840  there  were 
more  than  fifty  incorporated  academies  in  the  state. 

The  history  of  fifteen  of  the  county  grammar  schools  of 
Maryland  has  been  traced.3     These  schools  having  degener- 
i  ated  as  the  revolutionary  time  approached,  their  funds  were 
variously  employed.     "  Of  the  fifteen  foundations  for  s 

1  Four  of  these  were  in  Maine,  namely,  those  of  Hallowell,  Berwick,  Frye- 
burg,  and  Machias. 

2  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXX.,  pp.  58-59. 

»  By  MR.  SOLLERS.     See  STEINER,  History  of  education  in  Maryland, 

ch.  2. 


'218          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

dary  education  in  colonial  times,  seven  went  to  institutions 
of  the  same  grade,  four  to  institutions  for  higher  educa- 
tion, one  to  an  institution  for  elementary  education,  and 
two  to  the  support  of  the  poor."  1  Two  of  these  county 
schools  were  united  in  Washington  College  in  1782  ;2  and 
St.  John's  College  absorbed  King  William's  School  in  1785.3 
St.  John's  College  had  been  incorporated  in  1784,  and  by 
the  same  act  the  legislature  had  established  the  University 
of  Maryland,  consisting  of  the  two  colleges,  Washington  on 
the  Eastern  Shore  and  St.  John's  on  the  Western  Shore.4 
These  colleges  received  substantial  state  aid,  which  was  to 
have  been  perpetual. 

But  here,  as  in  New  York,  the  colleges  and  academies  were 
regarded  as  having  opposing  interests.  In  17985  a  part  of 
the  state  moneys  was  withdrawn  from  the  annual  grant  to 
Washington  College,  and  devoted  to  the  support  of  five  acad- 
emies. This  was  the  beginning  of  a  policy  of  state  aid  to 
secondary  schools  in  the  counties,  which  has  been  continued 
in  Maryland  down  to  the  present  time.  In  1805  the  dona- 
tions to  the  colleges  were  wholly  discontinued.  By  1812 
the  ideal  of  one  academy  to  each  county  was  practically 
realized.  At  a  later  time,  1825  and  thereafter,  the  interests 
of  the  primary  schools  were  in  turn  pitted  against  those  of 
the  academies.  The  effort  to  break  down  the  state  support 
of  the  academies  was  however  unsuccessful.6 

Pennsylvania,  having  extended  her  financial  aid  in  an  ir- 
regular way  for  many  years,  in  1838  adopted  a  general  sys^"" 
tern  of  state  support  for  colleges  and  academies.  When  this 
liberal  policy  was  discontinued,  in  1843,  there  were  nine 
colleges,  including  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  sixty- 
four  academies,  and  thirty-seven  female  seminaries  which 
were  receiving  such  assistance.  The  total  annual  expen- 

1  Op.  dt.,  p.  42. 

2  Laws  of  Maryland,  April,  1782,  ch.  8. 
8  Id.,  November,  1785,  ch.  39. 

4  Id.,  November,  1784,  ch.  37. 

6  Id.,  November,  1798,  ch.  107.     (The  act  was  passed  January  20,  1799.) 

6  STBINER,  op.  cit.,  passim. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  219 

diture  for  this  purpose  rose  from  $7,990  in  1838  to 
$48,298.31  in  1843.1 

Some  of  the  new  states  of  the  south  and  west  have 
already  been  mentioned  in  this  account.  In  the  rest  of 
these  rising  common  wealths,  academic  institutions  came  into 
being  at  an  early  day,  under  the  impulse  of  private  enter- 
prise variously  encouraged  by  state  and  territorial  govern- 
ments. No  complete  inventory  of  these  undertakings  will 
be  attempted  here.  A  few  notable  examples  will  give  some 
indication  of  the  public  spirit  which  followed  hard  after  the 
westward  movement  of  our  frontier,  and  show  how  educa- 
tional statesmanship  made  use  of  various  means  to  conquer 
the  hard  conditions  of  that  lifev 

Tennessee,  while  yet  a  part  of  North  Carolina,  saw  the 
establishment  of  Davidson  Academy  2  at  Nashville  (incor- 
porated in  1785),  which  grew  at  length  into  the  University 
of  Nashville.  This  academy  was  endowed  with  a  grantTof 
240  acres  of  land  in  its  immediate  vicinity.  In  1806  Con- 
gress granted  certain  lands  to  the  state  of  Tennessee  for  the 
encouragement  of  education.  This  grant  included  one  hun- 
dred thousand  acres  for  the  use  of  two  colleges,  one  hundred 
thousand  acres  for  the  use  of  academies,  one  in  each  county, 
and  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  every  district  six  miles 
square  for  the  use  of  schools.3  The  legislature  of  Tennessee 
took  prompt  measures  to  secure  to  the  state  the  benefits  of 
this  bounty.  One  of  the  bills  passed  for  this  purpose  is 
astonishing  in  its  comprehensiveness,  incorporating,  by  a 
single  act,  twenty-seven  boards  of  trustees  for  as  many 
academies  in  the  several  counties.4 

Kentucky,  too,  began  establishing  academies  before  its 
admission  into  the  Union,  and  in  the  matter  of  omnibus 

1  WICKERSHAM,  A  history  of  education  in  Pennsylvania,  p.  369. 

2  Martin  Academy  in  Washington  County  seems  to  have  been  incorporated 
at  the  same  time.    Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXIV.,  p.  320.    The  act  does  not  appear 
in  Scott's  edition  of  the  Laws  of  Tennessee. 

8  BLACKMAR,  op.  cit.,  pp.  262-263.  MERRIAM,  Higher  education  in 
Tennessee,  pp.  20-21. 

*  Laws  of  the  state  of  Tennessee,  1806,  eh.  8. 


220          TEE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

measures  for  the  incorporation  of  institutions  of  learning  it 
was  even  in  advance  of  Tennessee.  Early  in  the  year  1798, 
the  legislature  of  the  state  incorporated  six  academies  and 
seminaries  by  a  single  act,  and  endowed  each  of  these  schools 
with  a  grant  of  six  thousand  acres  of  land.  Later  in  the 
same  year  nineteen  more  academies  were  similarly  chartered 
and  endowed.  By  the  year  1820,  forty-seven  county  acade- 
mies had  been  established  in  the  state,  and  each  of  them 
had  received  a  grant  of  from  six  thousand  to  twelve  thou- 
sand acres  of  land.  By  that  time  the  movement  had  run 
its  course,  the  county  academies  were  coming  into  disfavor, 
and  public  educational  measures  were  turning  aside  into 
other  channels.1 

The  constitution  of  the  state  of  Indiana  adopted  in  1816 
contained  the  far-sighted  provision  that "  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  general  assembly,  as  soon  as  circumstances  will  per- 
mit, to  provide  by  law  for  a  general  system  of  education, 
ascending  in  regular  gradation  from  township  schools  to  a 
State  University  wherein  tuition  shall  be  gratis  and  equally 
open  to  all."  In  1818  the  governor  of  the  state  was  em- 
powered by  law  to  appoint  a  "  seminary  trustee  "  for  each 
county.  In  1820  a  "  state  seminary "  was  chartered  at 
Bloomington.  Out  of  this  state  seminary  has  grown  the 
present  State  University  of  Indiana.  No  county  seminary 
was  established  until  1825,  when  one  was  opened  at  Liberty 
in  Union  County.  A  general  law  of  the  year  1831  provided 
for  the  establishment  of  a  seminary  in  each  county.  In  all, 
twenty-four  of  these  county  seminaries  were  incorporated, 
between  the  years  1825  arid  1843.  Dr.  Woodburn  says 
of  them : 

"  These  old  seminaries  gradually  disappeared  after  the  passage  of 
the  first  school  law  under  the  new  Constitution.  The  free  public 
high  schools  have  succeeded  to  their  places.  In  their  day  they 
served  an  excellent,  we  may  even  say  indispensable,  purpose. 

1  LEWIS,  Higher  education  in  Kentucky,  ch.  2.     BLACKMAR,  op.  cit.,  p. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  221 

They  raised  the  educational  standard  of  the  State;  they  educated 
teachers,  they  brought  the  advantages  of  education  within  reach  of 
a  majority  of  the  people,  and  in  demonstrating  the  great  benefits 
therefrom  they  made  possible  the  movement  for  universal  schools. 
They  were  the  main  reliance  for  the  education  of  the  people  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  They  are  to  be  assigned  a  respectable  place 
in  the  story  of  Indiana  schools,  and  their  influence  is  yet  felt  in 
the  educational  forces  of  the  State,  not  only  in  the  work  of  a  few 
of  their  number  which  still  survive,  but  in  the  impressions  left  by 
the  many  which  have  long  since  suspended  their  operation."  l 

At  the  same  time  that  these  county  seminaries  were  build- 
ing, various  towns  and  cities  and  religious  denominations 
were  securing  charters  for  other  "  seminaries  "  and  "  acade- 
mies." No  less  than  thirty-seven  such  institutions  were 
incorporated  in  the  state  up  to  and  including  the  year  1850. 

Secondary  education  in  Illinois  seems  to  have  begun  with 
the  admission  of  the  territory  to  statehood.  The  first  legis- 
lature, in  1819,  incorporated  Madison  Academy  at  Edwards- 
ville  and  Washington  Academy  at  Carlyle.  Mr.  Baker,  the 
father  of  General  Baker  of  Oregon,  who  was  killed  at  Ball's 
Bluff,  opened  an  academy  in  Belleville  about  1825.  The 
legislature  of  1826-27  incorporated  an  academy  in  Monroe,2 
endowed  it  with  school  lands,  and  added  the  injunction  that 
only  useful  knowledge  is  to  be  taught.  The  next  and  much 
more  significant  movement  in  secondary  education  in  this 
state  was  in  connection  with  the  establishment  of  the  early 
colleges.  Although  favorable  to  academies,  the  early  Illinois 
legislatures  were  seemingly  fearful  of  colleges.  The  dread 
of  ecclesiastical  influence  seems  to  have  had  much  to  do 
with  their  reluctance  to  grant  college  charters.3  Rock 

1  WOODBURN,  Higher  education  in  Indiana,  pp.  46-47. 

2  Presumably  Monroe  County.    I  follow  here  the  account  by  DR.  SAMUEL 
WILLARD,  published  in  the  Fifteenth  biennial  report  of  iht  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of  Illinois  [1882-1884]. 

8  "  The  prejudices  that  defeated  it  [the  proposed  charter  for  Illinois  College, 
in  1830]  were  so  absurd  that  we  can  hardly  realize  the  potent  influence  they 
then  possessed.  The  most  prominent  argument  was  the  alleged  discovery  that 
Presbyterians  were  planning  to  gain  undue  influence  in  our  politics,  and  were 


222          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Spring  Seminary,  containing  the  germ  of  Shurtleff  College, 
was  established  in  1827,  having  grown  from  a  school  opened 
three  years  earlier.  Illinois  College  started  with  a  prepara- 
tory school  in  1830 l  and  organized  a  college  class  in  1831, 
with  the  Rev.  Edward  Beecher  as  president.  Instruction 
began  in  the  McKendreean  College  (founded  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  Peter  Cartwright)  in  1828  ;  though  the  first  college 
class  was  not  graduated  till  1841.  At  the  same  time  an 
effort  was  making  to  establish  a  college  of  the  Christian 
church  at  Jonesboro.  After  encountering  much  difficulty, 
these  four  colleges,  by  a  united  effort,  secured  incorporation 
from  the  legislature  in  a  single  act  passed  in  1835.  From 
that  time  the  colleges  greatly  encouraged  and  promoted  the 
development  of  secondary  schools  in  the  state.  The  Jack- 
sonville Female  Academy  was  incorporated  in  1834.  Before 
1840,  thirty  additional  academies  had  been  incorporated, 
under  various  names,  including  five  schools  for  girls. 

The  legislature  of  1840-41,  in  granting  charters  to  several 
academies,  gave  to  three  of  them  the  privilege  of  receiving 
public  money  on  the  presentation  of  proper  schedules,  such 
as  were  required  of  the  common  schools.  This  practice 
does  not  seem,  however,  to  have  become  common.  Within 
the  following  decade  several  strong  secondary  schools  were 
established  in  the  state ;  and  the  preparatory  departments 
of  colleges,  commonly  bearing  the  name  academy,  helped  to 
fix  the  standards  of  instruction  in  such  institutions. 

In  Iowa,  numerous  academies  and  seminaries  were  incor- 
porated during  the  territorial  period,  but  the  most  of  them 
seem  to  have  had  an  existence  on  paper  only.  One,  how- 
proposing  to  control  the  government  of  the  State  in  the  interest  of  Presby- 
terianism."  JULIAN  M.  STURTEVANT,  An  autobiography  (New  York,  1896), 
p.  178. 

"  Three  or  four  of  the  pupils  had  already  made  some  progress  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  Latin  language  and  were  looking  forward  to  a  collegiate  edu- 
cation and  to  the  Christian  ministry.  One  or  two  more  manifested  a  desire 
to  commence  classical  study.  The  rest  wished  to  pursue  rudimentary 
branches  only.  .  .  .  There  was  then  no  school  in  the  State  at  which  a 
youth  could  have  prepared  for  college."  Id.,  pp.  166-167. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  228 

ever,  grew  into  a  fairly  strong  institution  and  has  continued 
to  the  present  time.  This  is  the  Denmark  Academy,  estab- 
lished in  1843.  It  rose  on  the  ruins  of  a  chimerical  scheme 
for  a  "  Philandrian  College,"  and  was  for  a  long  time  the 
only  incorporated  academy  in  Iowa.1  The  constitution 
adopted  when  the  state  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  in 
1846,  provided  for  a  university,  "  with  such  branches  as  the 
public  convenience  may  hereafter  demand."  Two  such 
branches  were  authorized  in  1849,  one  at  Fairfield  and  the 
other  at  Dubuque ;  but  the  constitution  adopted  in  1857 
discontinued  all  such  branches.2 

At  about  this  time  secondary  education  was  getting  under 
way  in  Florida.  We  are  told  that  in  1840  there  were  in  the 
territory  eighteen  academies  and  grammar  schools.  The 
congressional  land  grant  for  a  "  seminary  of  learning,"  was 
not  employed,  when  Florida  was  admitted  as  a  state,  for  the 
establishment  of  a  state  university ;  but  instead  it  was  pro- 
vided by  legislative  action  in  1851  that 

"Two  seminaries  of  learning  shall  be  established,  one  upon  the 
east,  the  other  upon  the  west  side  of  the  Suwanee  River,  the  first 
purpose  of  which  shall  be  tlio  instruction  of  persons,  both  male  and 
female,  in  the  art  of  teaching  all  the  various  branches  that  pertain 
to  a  good  common  school  education  ;  and  next,  to  give  instruction 
in  the  mechanic  arts,  in  husbandry,  and  agricultural  chemistry,  in 
the  fundamental  laws,  and  in  what  regards  the  rights  and  duties  of 
citizenship." 

These  two  schools,  the  East  Florida  Seminary,  located 
at  Gainesville,  and  the  West  Florida  Seminary,  located 
at  Tallahassee,  in  addition  to  other  services,  have  been 
especially  useful  in  promoting  secondary  education  in  the 
state.3 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  was  not  in  exist- 

1  PARKER,  Higher  education  in  Iowa,  pp.  124-125. 

2  BLACRMAR,  op.  cit.,  pp.  290-292.     "These  branches,  however,  were  to 
be,  practically,  two  independent  State  universities."     Op.  ciL,  p.  77. 

8  BUSH,  History  of  education  in  Florida,  passim. 


224          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

ence  in  the  great  academy  age  —  the  earlier  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  —  and  we  have  far  to  seek  for  any 
statistical  account  of  American  educational  institutions  dur- 
ing that  period.  The  attempt  was  made  by  Mr.  B.  B.  Ed- 
wards, the  secretary  of  the  American  Education  Society,  to 
gather  full  information  with  respect  to  American  schools 
and  colleges.  This  attempt  was  only  partially  successful ; 
but  the  report  of  his  findings  which  Mr.  Edwards  presented 
is  interesting  and  valuable.1  A  brief  summary  of  some  por- 
tions of  this  report  will  help  us  to  a  better  understanding 
of  the  extent  of  our  provision  for  secondary  education  in 
the  early  days  of  the  "  Educational  Awakening."  The  report 
is  given  by  states : 

Maine.  —  Has  thirty-two  academies  and  similar  institu- 
tions. Total  value  of  their  property  and  endowment,  about 
$250,000.  Number  of  students,  about  1,200. 

New  Hampshire.  —  Thirty  "  academies  and  other  public 
schools." 

Vermont.  —  About  thirty-five  academies  and  high  schools, 
but  not  all  in  actual  operation. 

Massachusetts.  —  Eighty-three  academies  and  private  sec- 
ondary schools  of  various  sorts,  twenty-one  of  which  have 
received  a  land  endowment  from  the  state. 

Rhode  Island.  —  One  boarding  school  and  one  "English 
and  classical  seminary  "  are  mentioned. 

Connecticut.  —  Fourteen  schools  of  the  academy  grade. 

New  York.  —  Fifty-seven  academies,  having  buildings  and 
endowments  amounting  in  value  to  $400,000,  and  receiving 
from  the  state  $10,000  annually. 

New  Jersey.  —  Seven  schools  which  might  be  designated 
as  academies  are  mentioned,  one  of  which  has  been 
discontinued. 

Pennsylvania.  —  A  list  of  ninety-two  "  academies  and 
high  schools"  is  given,  with  the  date  of  incorporation  of 
each  of  them.  The  endowments  of  nearly  all  are  reported. 

1  Article,  Education  and  literary  institutions,  in  American  Quarterly  Reg- 
ister, V.,  pp.  273-333,  May,  1833. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  225 

Some  have  land  endowments,  the  value  of  which  is  not 
given.  The  endowments  reported  at  a  money  valuation 
range  in  amount  from  $500  to  $10,000.* 

Delaware.  —  One  academy,  "  lately  established." 

Maryland.  —  "  There  are  several  academies,  which  receive 
$800  a  year  from  the  state  treasury." 

Virginia.  —  About  fifty-five  academies. 

North  Carolina.  —  Number  of  academies  not  ascertained. 

South  Carolina.  —  A  list  is  given  of  thirty-two  academies 
which  were  in  existence  in  1826. 

Georgia.  —  Four  secondary  schools  are  mentioned. 

Kentucky.  —  Twelve  secondary  schools  are  mentioned. 
The  literary  fund  of  Kentucky  is  reported  as  amounting 
to  $140,917.44. 

Ohio.  —  "  We  are  not  aware  that  there  are  any  flourishing 
incorporated  academies  in  the  State." 

It  is  clear  that  this  is  very  far  from  a  complete  account 
of  the  establishments  for  secondary  education  in  the  early 
thirties.^  But  it  shows  at  least  how  our  provision  for  sec- 
ondary education  appeared  at  that  time  to  one  who  was  in 
a  better  position  than  the  most  of  his  contemporaries  to 
know  what  was  going  on  —  at  least  so  far  as  the  northern 
country,  east  and  west,  was  concerned. 

The  account  of  the  colleges  is  more  nearly  complete  than 
that  of  the  lower  schools.  In  an  earlier  number  of  the 
same  volume  is  given  a  comparison  Qf  college  attendance  in 
the  United  States  with  that  in  various  European  countries. 
It  is  estimated  that  there  were  3,475  "academical"  students 
in  American  colleges,  and  2,751  in  the  professional  schools. 
In  this  whole  country,  there  was  one  person  pursuing  the 
higher  studies  to  every_2^)78  of  the  population ;  in  Europe, 
one  to  every  2,285  of  the  population.  The  proportion  was 
highest  in  Scotland  (one  to  every  683) :  and  after  that  in 
Massachusetts  (one  to  every  792)  ;  Baden  (one  to  every 
816)  ;  and  Connecticut  (one  to  every  960).  These  were  the 

1  Here  as  in  some  of  the  other  states,  endowments  are  reported  in  round 
numbers,  which  look  suspiciously  like  mere  estimates  or  guesses. 

15 


226          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

only  states  or  countries  having  a  larger  proportion  than 
one  to  l^OO.1 

Commenting  on  the  educational  situation  in  this  country, 
the  article  first  referred  to  declared  that,  "  There  is  much 
in  the  state  of  education  in  this  country,  which  is  encour- 
aging to  the  philanthropist  and  scholar.  Its  great  object 
seems  to  be  more  and  more  distinctly  apprehended.  The 
armonious  cultivation  of  all  the  powers  which  belong  to 
man,  is  regarded  as  of  paramount  importance."  Here  we 
see  the  abstract  psychological  view  of  education,  which  was 
closely  bound  up  with  the  Pestalozzian  movement,  already 
coming  to  the  front  in  this  country. 

The  growing  recognition  of  the  Bible  as  a  text-book  in 
chool  instruction  is  referred  to.  This  is  significant  as 
showing  how  far  the  schools  had  swung  away  from  the  prac- 
tice of  colonial  times,  when  the  Bible  was  a  text-book  in 
elementary  schools  almost  as  a  matter  of  course.  Of  similar 
import  is  the  remark  that  within  five  years  there  had  been  a 
noticeable  gain  in  the  study  of  the  classics.  One  other  note 
is  significant  in  a  different  way:  "We  have  reason  to 
believe  that  greater  attention  is  paid  to  individual  minds  at 
our  public  institutions.  The  indiscriminate  instruction  of 
a  class  has  long  been  a  fatal  error.  The  instructors  have 
not  studied  the  peculiar  conformation  —  the  excellencies 
and  defects  of  particular  minds.  The  sound  advice  of 
Mr.  Jardine,  the  excellent  Glasgow  professor,  has  produced, 
we  think,  considerable  effect  in  this  country."  2  In  this  we 
hear  what  has  a  familiar  sound  to  our  more  modern  ears. 
But  a  consideration  of  the  academies,  as  they  were  in  their 
actual  working,  must  be  reserved  for  the  chapters  next 


following  this. 


NOTE 


The  study  of  successive  phases  of  influence  of  foreign  countries  upon  our 
own  is  a  fascinating  one.  It  'can  hardly  be  doubted  that  much  more  will 
be  brought  to  Jight  than  has  vet  been  shown  respecting  French  influence 

1  Op.  ciL,  pp.  21-24.  2  op.  cit.,  pp.  273-274. 


EARLY  STATE  SYSTEMS  227 

in  American  education  during  the  period  next  following  tlie  Revolutionary 
War.  The  studies  of  PROFESSOR  HERBERT  B.  ADAMS  and  DR.  SHERWOOD 
in  this  field  are  full  of  interest.  Attention  should  be  called  to  a  very  sug- 
gestive sketch  by  DR.  HINSDA.LE,  entitled  Notes  on  the  history  of  foreign 
influence  upon  education  in  the  United  States.  In  Rept.  Comr.  Ed.,  1897-98, 
I.,  pp.  591-029. 

After  all  is  said  and  done  in  this  field  of  inquiry,  the  impression  remains 
that  there  was  in  this  period  a  tremendous  moving  of  the  spirit  of  education 
in  ways  that  may  fairly  be  called  American,  as  distinguished  from  any 
pattern  set  by  European  nations. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES 

THE  academy  was  the  institution  for  secondary  education 
wrought  out  by  the  American  people  in  the  first  half  century 
of  their  independence,  and  it  was  the  dominant  institution 
of  its  class  for  at  least  another  half  century*.  It  appeared 
under  different  names  and  in  different  forms,  and  its  charac- 
tertchanged  as  tkne  went  on.  In  its  varied  developments, 
it  contributed  largely  to  the  making  of  American  civilization. 
The  nature  of  this  contribution  and  of  the  institution  which 
made  it  must  now  be  considered  a  little  more  particularly. 

To  begin  with,  some  differences  between  the  academy  and 
the  grammar  school  and  the  social  conditions  out  of  which 
they  respectively  arose,  should  be  mentioned.  The  early 
grammar-school-and-college  system,  as  was  pointed  out,  be- 
longed to  a  society  in  which  there  was  a  conscious  cleavage 
between  higher  and  lower  classes..  In  the  revolutionary 
period  there  was  a  strong  tendency  toward  democracy.  Yet 
,  the  democracy  with  which  the  present  generation  has  been 
familiar  had  not  yet  come  into  being.  A  most  important 
turning-point  was  passed  when  the  Republican  party  came 
into  power,  with  Thomas  Jefferson  in  the  presidential  chair. 
The  rise  of  the  west  within  the  twenty  years  next  following, 
made  for  a  great  advance  in  democratic  spirit.  And  this 
was  a  time  when  academies  were  springing  up  everywhere. 

The  academy  age  was,  in  fact,  the  age  of  transition  from 
the  partially  stratified  colonial  society  to  modern  democracy^ 
Perhaps  the  most  marked  feature  of  that  transition  was  the 
growing  importance  of  a  strong  middle  class.  The  rise  of 
the  academies  wa&  closely"  connected  with  the  rise  of  this 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES 

middle  class.     The  academies  were  by  no  means  exclus 
middle-class  schools  at  the  start,  and  they  became  somet 
very  different  from  that  at  a  later  period.     But  it  is  om 
their  glories  that  they  were  in  the  earlier  days  so  bound  i 
with  the  higher  interests  of  the  common  people. 

There  was  in  the  academies  a  growing  sense  of  the  value 
of  education  for  its  own  sake,  or  rather  for  its  effect  in  the 
heightening  of  sheer  human  worth.  To  be  sure  the  colonial 
colleges  had  not  been  professional  schools  in  the  modern 
sense ;  but  they  were  valued  chiefly  because  they  gave  such 
an  education  as  a  member  of  one  of  the  learned  professions 
required.  In  this  way  the  professional  spirit  was  strong  in 
them,  apparently  stronger  than  the  spirit  of  "culture,"  to 
use  the  word  in  a  modern  sense.  But  the  idea  of  liberal 
culture  took  strong  hold  of  the  academies;  and  it  would, 
perhaps,  be  fair  to  call  it  the  dominant  note  of  both  acad- 
emy and  college  education  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

There  were  many  reasons  for  this  change  of  attitude.  It 
may  have  been  influenced  in  some  measure  by  Rousseau. 
This  influence,  however,  was  indirect  for  the  most  part, 
though  the  Smile  was  read  somewhat  on  this  side  of  the 
water.1  Then,  our  revolutionary  period  was  alive  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  rights  of  man  and  with  the  assertion  of 
human  freedom.  The  minds  of  men  were  receptive  not  only 
to  the  ideas  of  revolutionary  France,  but  also  to  those  ancient 
conceptions  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  freemen  which  the 
study  of  Latin  and  Greek  had  made  familiar.  So  this  ideal 
of  liberal  culture  which  made  its  way  into  the  academies 
and  was  spread  abroad  by  them,  was  a  blending  of  many 
elements,  all  fused  in  a  very  religious  enthusiasm.  It  gave 
us  a  noble  view  of  the  worth  of  education,  a  view  which 
tended  doubtless  to  abstraction,  but  which  was  very  high 
and  generous.  It  had  consequences,  too,  of  a  thoroughly 
practical  sort. 

1  There  had  been  preparation  here  for  some  of  the  ideas  of  Rousseau  and 
his  school.  The  Quaker  doctrine  of  a  continuous  revelation  was  the  religiou* 
counterpart  and  forerunner  of  the  "return  to  nature." 


THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

ne  old  grammar  schools  had,  many  of  them,  been  erected 
supply  the  educational  need  of  single  communities.     An 
ademy,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not  commonly  regarded  as 
merely  local   institution.     It  served   a  widely  Scattered 
Constituency.     The  Phillips  academies  came,  in  fact,  to  be 
in -a  sense  national,  like  the  great  public  schools  of  England. 
We  have  seen  that  the  close  corporation  was  the  charac- 
teristic type  of  academy  organization,  replacing  those  various 
forms  of  control  which  were  found  in  the  grammar  schools. 
Where  there  was  a  deviation  from  this  type,  it  was  not  in 
the  direction  of  management  by  some  public  corporation,  as 
in  the  grammar  schools,  but  rather  in  the  direction  of  eccle- 
siastical control.     The  members  of  the  managing  board  of 
an  academy  were  commonly  drawn  from  several  localities, 
and  these  sometimes  remote  from  one  another. 

The  earlier  academies  were  not  bound  up  with  the  college 

system  in  the  same  way  as  the  grammar  schools :  they  were 

not  primarily  "  fitting  schools."     They  were,  instead,  insti- 

^/tutions   of   an    independent   sort,   taking   pupils   who   had 

already  acquired  the  elements  of  an  English  education,  and 

v^  carrying  them  forward  to  some,  rather  indefinite,  rounding- 

out  of  their  studies. 

The  constitutions  of  the  Philadelphia  academy  and  of  the 
two  schools  founded  by  the  Phillips  family,  set  forth  the 
purposes  of  those  several  institutions,  but  make  no  such 
mention  of   preparation  for  college  as  is  contained  in  the 
'/New  England  laws  providing  for  grammar  schools,  or  in 
/official  documents  relating  to  the  grammar  schools  of  Mary- 
land and  Virginia.     We  even  find  the  interests  of  the  acad- 
emies sometimes  set  over  against  those  of  the  colleges,  as 
in  New  York  and  Maryland,  the  two  institutions  being  re- 
garded as  belonging  to  diverse  educational  systems.     The 
'I  colleges  were   for  thejiigher,   and  particularly  the  profes- 
i    I  sional,   classes.     The   academies  were    the    colleges  of   the 
B  Peggie.     So  the  matter  stood  in   the  controversies  of   the 
time. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  should  be  noted  that,  even  in  the 


THE   CHARACTER   OF   THE  ACADEMIES  231 

earlier  academies,  the  classical  studies  were  arranged  with 
reference  to  college  admission  requirements,  for  the  con-/ 
venience  of  such  students  as  might  go  on  to  some  higher 
institution.  The  tradition  of  the  grammar  schools,  too,  made 
itself  felt  in  the  new  institutions.  In  fact,  the  classical  side 
of  the  academies  was  virtually  the  old  grammar  school  con- 
tinued in  a  new  setting.  In  the  better  schools  the  college 
preparatory  course  was  the  backbone  of  the  whole  system 
of  instruction.  While  the  academies  were  much  more  than 
fitting  schools,  it  was  the  admission  requirements  of  the 
colleges,  more  than  anything  else,  that  determined  their 
standards  of  scholarship.1 

Up  to  the  year  1800,  Latin,  Greek,  and  arithmetic  were 
the  only  subjects  required  for  admission  to  the  leading 
American  colleges.2  The  requirements  in  the  classics  were 
not  definitely  marked  out  in  the  eighteenth  century,  except 
at  the  college  in  New  York.  King's  College,  as  early  as 
1755,  had  made  the  quantitative  requirement  of  three  of 
Tully's  orations,  the  first  three  books  of  the  Mneid,  the 
first  ten  chapters  of  St.  John's  gospel,  and  all  of  the  rules. 
of  Clarke's  Introduction.  Columbia  College,  thirty  years 
later,  extended  this  requirement  to  include  the  four  orations 
against  Catiline,  the  first  four  books  of  the  JEneid,  and 
apparently  the  whole  of  Ca?sar's  Gallic  War  and  all  four  of 
the  gospels. 

Between  the  year  1800  and  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
War,  five  new  subjects  found  a  place  in  the  requirements 
for  admission  to  the  regular  college  course.  These  are, 
given  as  follows,  with  the  dates  of  their  first  appearance  : 
Geography,  1807;  English  grammar,  1819;  algebra,  1820;  •' 

1  Cf.  DR.  BROOME'S  monograph,  referred  to  in  foot-note  2  on  page  129  — 
an  extended  study  of  the  history  of  requirements  for  admission  to  American 
colleges.      Through  the   courtesy   of  Dr.   Broome  I  was  permitted  to  make 
use  of  the  manuscript  of  this  monograph  prior  to  its  publication,  and  have 
availed  myself  particularly  of  that  portion  which  relates  to  the  nineteenth 
century. 

2  The  ambiguous  term,  "grammir,"  appears  in  the  Williams  College  re- 
quirements for  1795. 


232         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

geometry,  1844 ;  ancient  history,  1847.  All  of  these  sub- 
jects were  first  required  by  Harvard  College,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  English  grammar,  in  which  Princeton  took  the  lead  ; 
but  each  of  the  new  requirements  named  spread  gradually 
to  other  institutions.1 

Academy  students  who  were  preparing  for  college  pursued 
the  studies,  now  slowly  increasing  in  number  and  in  definite- 
ness,  which  their  several  colleges  prescribed.     But  the  not- 
able thing  about  the  academies,  as  distinguished  from  the 
grammar  schools,  was  that  they  went  on  adding  subjects  to, 
this  programme  at  their  own  sweet  will,  wholly  regardless  of 
what  the   colleges  were  doing.     Sometimes   they   brought 
subjects  down  from  the  college  course ;  sometimes  they  took 
subjects  which  the  most  of  the  colleges  did  not  touch.     Per- 
haps the  most  significant  of  these  additions  were  studies  in 
the  English  language,  in  history,  and  in  certain  branches  of 
natural  science.     Occasionally,  too,  we  find  mention  of  the 
modern  foreign  languages.     And  books  were  studied  which 
treated  of  ethics  and  psychology  in  some  of  their  practical 
aspects.     Watts'  Improvement  of  the  mind  was  one  of  these. 
The  first  stage  in  the  introduction  of  natural  science  into 
the  programme  of  studies  is  seen  in  the  laying  of  strong  em- 
phasis on  mathematics,  especially  on  algebra  and  geometry^ 
Closely   connected   with  these  subjects   was   the  study  of 
astronomy.     It  is  easy  to   see   the   relation   between   this 
movement  and  that  rising  interest  in  natural  phenomena 
which  had  found  expression  in  the  academies  of  England. 
.  Here  as  there  astronomy  was  received  with  favor  because  of 
the  new  stimulus  which  it  gave  to  the  sense  of  religious 
awe.     The  work  of   Herschel  was   now  added   to  that  of 
Newton.     The  wonder  of  the  heavens  was  increased,  and  the 
expectation  of  new  discoveries  lent  further  interest  to  the 
science.     It  is,  indeed,  a  distinct  loss  to  our  secondary  educa- 
tion that  this  earlier  study  of  astronomy  is  now  so  largely 
discontinued. 
^j  "  Natural   philosophy "   followed   close   upon   astronomy, 

1  DR.  BROOKE'S  MS. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES     233 

or  not  infrequently  absorbed  astronomy,  which  then  made 
one  of  the  chief  divisions  of  the  more  comprehensive  sub- 
ject. The  several  formal  divisions  of  physics  were  also  in- 
cluded in  this  natural  philosophy.  Electricity  and  magnet- 
ism were  already  fascinating  studies.  A  patriotic  as  well  . 
as  scientific  interest  attached  to  the  story  of  Franklin's 
experiments.  Even  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, some  schools  had  "philosophical"  apparatus  for  use 
by  the  instructor  in  the  presence  of  the  class.  At  odd  times, 
students  as  well  as  teachers  performed  experiments  with 
such  apparatus  ;  but  the  era  of  regular  school  laboratories 
was  still  far  off. 

/Chemistry  was  taught  along  with  natural  philosophy,  and 
by  similar  methods.  Geography,  too,  began  to  be  empha- 
sized. This  subject  presents  a  good  example  of  the  influence 
of  text-books.  With  the  publication  of  Morse's  geography, 
in  1784,  it  became  an  easy  matter  to  manage  a  course  of 
geographical  study,  such  as  it  was.  There  were  many  in- 
teresting things  in  the  text-book,  and  the  subject  was  intrin- 
sically attractive,  besides  offering  a  great  store  of  useful 
information.  So  geography  soon  made  headway  in  the 
schools,  and  later  found  a  place  in  college  admission  re- 
quirements. 

In  all  of  the  studies  of  this  group,  the  speculative  and 
liberal  interest  ran  alongside  of  the  consideration  of  prac- 
tical use  —  sometimes  the  one  ahead,  and  then  again 
the  other.  To  the  general  public,  such  subjects  doubtless 
appealed  chiefly  on  account  of  some  sort  of  usefulness.  Their 
practical  value  was  sometimes  emphasized  by  the  addition 
of  technical  instruction  in  surveying  and  navigation,  after 
the  example  of  a  few  of  the  colonial  schools. 

The  study  of  the  English  language  and  literature  in  the 
academies,  as  recommended  by  Defoe,  and  still  more  as  rec-  ^ 
ommended  by  Franklin,  seems  to  have  been  intended  to 
fill  a  place  somewhat  like  that  which  English  occupies  in 
our  best  secondary  schools  at  the  present  time.  The  master- 
pieces of  English  prose  and  poetry  were  to  be  studied  criti- 


234          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

cally,  with  a  view  to  a  just  appreciation  of  their  beauties  as 
well  as  of  their  defects.  Practice  in  composition  under 
intelligent  supervision  was  to  form  the  students'  English 
style.  By  oral  reading  and  declamation  they  were  to  be 
trained  to  an  effective  public  presentation  of  worthy  senti- 
ments. 

There  were  many  hindrances  in  the  way  of  the  attain- 
ment of  this  ideal  —  such  hindrances  as  we  can  hardly 
realize  in  our  day.  Tradition,  apparatus,  and  atmosphere 
were  all  lacking,  and  only  a  few  great  teachers  can  get  on 
without  such  aids.  Franklin's  letter  to  the  trustees  of  the 
College  of  Philadelphia,  with  reference  to  the  depression  of 
the  English  school,  is  a  pathetic  setting-forth  of,  these  diffi- 
culties. It  seems  likely  that  the  better  teachers  of  English 
branches  in  our  early  academies  tried  faithfully  to  give  their 
pupils  some  real  introduction  to  English  literature,  but  the 
^accounts  of  their  work  are  scrappy  and  obscure. 
^  Lindley  Murray's  grammar,  published  in  1795^  gave  the 
first  definite  direction  to  this  department  of  study. l  In  the 
study  of  English  grammar  a  means  was  found  of  giving 
/•jform  to  the  chaotic  desire  to  study  the  vernacular.  The 
'  tradition  of  Latin  grammar  easily  passed  over  into  this 
branch  of  study.  The  school  spirit  of  the  age  could  compre- 
hend its  significance.  In  the  hands  of  skilful  teachers  it 
could  be  made  intensely  interesting  to  many  students,  and 
especially  to  those  whose  belated  opportunities  brought 
them  to  the  academies  near  the  end  of  their  teens,  with 

1  Or,  to  state  the  case  more  fully,  the  rising  interest  in  the  English  language 
and  literature  resulted  in  the  publication  of  several  works  on  English  gram- 
mar, the  most  influential  of  which  was  Lindley  Murray's  ;  and  these  publica- 
tions reacted  upon  the  interest  which  had  called  them  forth.  As  early  as 
1780,  William  Woodbridge  heard  a  class  of  young  ladies  parsing  English  in  a 
Philadelphia  school.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVII.,  p.  273. 

An  interesting  series  of  articles  on  instruction  and  text-books  in  English  gram- 
mar appeared  in  volume  XII.  of  the  Common  School  Journal  (Boston,  1850). 
The  writer  declared  that,  "It  is  hardly  sixty  years  since  English  grammar 
was  taught  in  any  New  England  school,  though  previously  to  that  time, 
Lowth's  Grammar  was  taught  at  Harvard  College,  and,  perhaps,  at  others." 
Loc.  cit.,  p.  5. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES     235 

minds  eager  for  intellectual  exercise,  which  their  childhood 
had  largely  missed.  English  grammar  soon  became  one  of 
the  standard  subjects  of  academy  instruction  ;  and  a  large 
part  of  the  fluid  and  formless  aspiration  after  the  study  of 
English  was  run  into  the  grammatical  mould. 

This,  however,  does  not  tell  the  whole  story.  Certain 
English  masterpieces,  Paradise %ost,  the  Essay  on  Jffan,  and 
Cowper's  Task,  and  along  with  these,  Pollock's  Course  of 

J[ime,  were  used  for  parsing  exercises,  and  sometimes  fur- 
nished at  the  same  time  materials  for  exercises  in  reading. 
While  this  practice  was  open  £b  grave  objections,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  it  led  some  students  to  an  appreciation  of 
good  literature.  At  its  best,  it  was  much  better  than  some 
present-day  instruction  in  Vergil  and  Cicero.  Logic  and 
rhetoric  were  sometimes  brought  over  from  the  ancient 
trivium  and  made  to  round  out  the  English  side  of  the 
academy  programme.  There  was  great  interest,  too,  during 
this  period,  in  the  practice  of  declamation.  But  one  of  the 
most  noteworthy  lines  of  English  instruction  in  the  early 
academies  was  provided  by  the  new  school  reading  books. 
Interest  in  English  literature  combined  with  moral  aspira- 

-  tion  and  with  patriotic  devotion  to  everything  American,  in 

,  determining  the  content  of  our  earliest  works  of  this  class. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  sense  of  pride  and  confidence 
in  America  and  Americanism  which  flamed  up  when  the  in- 
dependence of  the  colonies  was  secured  and  the  national 
constitution  was  established.  The  rapid  growth  of  the 
country  to  westward  added  fuel  to  this  sentiment.  There 

«,  was  in  it  a  great  deal  of  crude  and  ignorant  bumptiousness, 
such  as  Dickens  saw  and  made  the  whole  world  see.  But 
there  was  in  it,  too,  a  passionate  devotion  to  the  ideal  of 
free  government,  and  an  abundance  of  hero-worship.  Wash- 
ington was  a  demigod  and  lived  among  the  clouds,  even 
before  he  became  president.  We  may  gather  as  much  from 
the  bitter  comment  of  his  enemies.  Putnam  and  Wayne 
and  La  Fayette  and  Marion  and  Light  Horse  Harry  were 
herpes,  The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  sacred 


THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

document,  and  the  Signers  were  held  in  reverence  not 
wholly  unlike  that  with  which  the  early  church  regarded 
the  twelve  apostles. 

It  is  good  for  youth  to  have  generous  enthusiasms,  and 
this  exuberant  Americanism  was  one  of  the  most  pervasive 
influences  at  work  in  the  old  academies.  In  some  measure 
it  took  the  place  of  the  religious  instruction  of  the  old  gram- 
mar schools,  at  the  same  time  that  the  reading  book  was 
taking  the  place  of  the  Psalter  and  Testament. 

Noah  Webster's  American  Selection  or  "  Third  Part " 
(1785)  was  crowded  with  examples  of  American  eloquence. 
Caleb  Bingham's  Americanjfreceptor  (1794)  and  Columbian 
£rator  (1797)  followed  this  lead,  though  containing  a  little 
more  of  eighteenth-century  English  literature.  Lindley 
Murray's  series  of  readers,  and  particularly  his  Sequel  (1801) 
drew  largely  upon  Milton  and  the  essayists  and  poets  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  book  last  named  was  "designed 
to  improve  the  highest  class  of  learners,  to  establish  a  taste 
for  just  and  accurate  composition  and  to  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  piety  and  virtue."  * 

In  addition  to  the  patriotic  selections  of  the  reading  books 
there  was  more  definite  instruction  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States,  supplemented  by  some  account  of  other 
nations.  The  classical  course  seems  generally  to  have 
offered  no  instruction  in  history,  except  in  the  annals  of 
Greece  and  Home.  But  this  has  been  the  case  even  in  our 
high  schools,  down  to  a  recent  period.  If  the  history 
taught  in  the  academies  was  hardly  more  than  an  appendage 
of  literary  studies,  it  will  be  remembered  that  until  well  on 
into  the  nineteenth  century  historians  were  commonly 
ranked  as  contributors  to  belles-lettres. 

The  course  of  study  in  the  earlier  schools  was  not  clearly 
formulated.  That  part  which  looked  to  preparation  for 
college  was,  however,  fairly  well  defined  in  the  tradition 

1  See  REKDRR,  Historical  development  of  school  readers,  pp.  36-41.  There 
is  an  interesting  note  by  Mr.  Augustus  C.  Buell  on  the  influence  of  Sanders' 
old  Fifth  Reader,  in  the  Saturday  Review  of  the  New  York  Times  for  April 
5,  1902,  p.  228. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES     237 

received  from  the  grammar  schools.  The  arrangement  of 
the  newer  studies  was  open  to  free  experiment.  It  seems  to 
have  been  a  common  practice  to  form  classes  during  the 
winter  months  in  such  subjects  as  might  be  of  especial 
interest  to  the  young  farmers  who  came  into  the  school 
when  the  fall  work  was  over,  and  must  leave  when  the 
spring  ploughing  began.  The  separation  of  the  English 
from  the  classical  course  appears  at  a  very  early  day. 

The  history  of  the  Phillips  Exeter  curriculum  is  instruc- 
tive. In  the  year  1808,  the  number  of  classes  in  that  acad- 
emy was  reduced,  and  a  uniform  system  of  classification 
established.  At  this  time  the  requirements  for  admission 
to  the  English  course  were  defined,  and  probably  somewhat 
advanced.  Ten  years  later  the  admission  requirements  were 
made  more  rigid,  and  the  separation  of  the  English  from  the 
classical  department  was  sharpened.  The  full  course  of 
study  for  the  year  1818  is  given  as  follows :  * 


CLASSICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

For  the  First  Tear  : 

Adam's  Latin  Grammar  ;  Liber  Primus,  or  a  similar  work ;  Viri 
Romani,  or  Caesar's  Commentaries ;  Latin  Prosody ;  Exercises  in 
Reading  and  making  Latin ;  Ancient  and  Modern  Geography  ; 
Virgil  and  Arithmetic. 

For  the  Second  Tear : 

Virgil ;  Arithmetic  and  Exercises  in  Reading  and  making  Latin, 
continued ;  Valpey's  Greek  Grammar ;  Roman  History ;  Cicero's 
Select  Orations;  Delectus;  Dalzel's  Collectanea  Graeca  Minora ; 
Greek  Testament ;  English  Grammar  and  Declamation. 

For  the  Third  Tear  : 

The  same  Latin  and  Greek  authors  in  revision ;  English  Gram- 
mar and  Declamation  continued ;  Sallust ;  Algebra ;  Exercises  in 
Latin  and  English  translations,  and  Composition. 

*  BELL,  op.  cit.,  pp.  93-94. 


23cS          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 
For  the  Advanced  Class  : 

Collectanea  Graeca  Majora  ;  Q.  Horatius  Flaccus  ;  Titus  Livius  ; 
Parts  of  Terence's  Comedies ;  Excerpta  Latina,  or  such  Latin  and 
Greek  authors  as  may  best  comport  with  the  student's  future  des- 
tination ;  Algebra ;  Geometry ;  Elements  of  Ancient  History ; 
Adam's  Roman  Antiquities,  etc. 

ENGLISH   DEPARTMENT. 

For  admission  into  this  department  the  candidate  must  be  at 
least  twelve  years  of  age,  and  must  have  been  well  instructed  in 
Reading  and  Spelling ;  familiarly  acquainted  with  Arithmetic, 
through  Simple  Proportion  with  the  exception  of  Fractions,  with 
Murray's  English  Grammar  through  Syntax,  and  must  be  able  to' 
parse  simple  English  sentences. 

The  following  is  the  course  of  instruction  and  study  in  the  Eng- 
lish Department,  which  with  special  exceptions,  will  comprise 
three  years. 

For  the  First  Year  : 

English  Grammar  including  exercises  in  Reading,  in  Parsing,  and 
Analyzing,  in  the  correction  of  bad  English  ;  Punctuation  and 
Prosody ;  Arithmetic ;  Geography,  and  Algebra  through  Simple 
Equations. . 

For  the  Second  Year : 

English  Grammar  continued  ;  Geometry  ;  Plane  Trigonometry 
and  its  application  to  heights  and  distances ;  mensuration  of  Sup. 
and  Sol.  ;  Elements  of  Ancient  History;  Logic;  Rhetoric;  Eng- 
lish Composition ;  Declamation  and  exercises  of  the  Forensic 
kind. 

For  the  Third  Year  : 

Surveying  ;  Navigation ;  Elements  of  Chemistry  and  Natural 
Philosophy,  with  experiments ;  Elements  of  Modern  History, 
particularly  of  the  United  States  ;  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy, 
with  English  Composition,  Forensics,  and  Declamation  continued. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES     239 

The  religious  spirit  was  still  strong  in  the  academies,  but 
it  was  passing  through  a  transformation.    A  marked  charac- 
teristic of  this  transition  was  the  appearance  of  the  idea  orV/- 
non-sectarian  religious    instruction.      This   conception,   to-    or 
gether  with  its  practical  application,  is  a  notable  feature  in 
the  history  of  these  schools. 

Some  of  the  academies,  to  be  sure,  were  conducted  on 
denominational  lines  and  under  ecclesiastical  control.  But  the 
extreme  subdivision  of  sectarian  bodies  made  it  difficult  to  se- 
cure adequate  support  for  many  such  institutions.  The 
friends  of  learning  saw  that  schools  could  be  established  and 
properly  maintained  only  by  getting  those  of  divergent  reli- 
gious beliefs  to  pull  together,  making  education  a  common 
cause.  There  was,  moreover,  a  growing  dissatisfaction  with 
the  prevalent  sectarian  strife.  One  indication  of  this  senti- 
ment is  seen  in  the  establishment  of  the  church  of  the  Dis- 
ciples (about  18'2!Y),  under  the  leadership  of  Alexander 
Campbell,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  bringing  about  a  union 
of  all  Christians  in  an  organization  based  upon  the  Bible 
alone,  and  having  no  creed  nor  liturgy.  The  Unitarian 
movement,  too,  which  was  destined  to  exercise  so  powerful 
an  influence  upon  American  education,  was  giving  expression 
"  to  a  mighty  protest  against  the  dominance  of  religious  forms 
and  creeds. 

There  was  already  a  limited  acceptance  of  the  principle 
that  those  doctrines  on  which  the  various  sects  had  divided 
should  be  excluded  from  the  schools.  In  a  discourse  at  the 
dedication  of  the  academy  at  Milton,  in  1807,  the  Eev. 
Thomas  Thacher  went  so  far  as  to  say,  "  A  Preceptor  has  no 
right  to  inculcate  his  peculiar  sentiments  in  theology  on  the 
mind  of  the  pupil."  Others,  who  might  not  have  agreed 
with  the  general  principle  thus  expressed,  would  at  least 
maintain  that  the  schools  would  do  better  to  touch  on  only 
those  broad  aspects  of  religious  belief  upon  which  their  con- 
stituents were  practically  agreed ;  but  would  have  these 
presented  with  all  fulness  and  earnestness. 

So  the  academies  were  generally  pervaded  by  a  religious 


240          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

spirit,  which  was  often  deep  and  intense ;  but  which  was 
non-ecclesiastical,  in  that  it  kept  clear  of  those  doctrines 
which  are  peculiar  to  any  single  church.  In  this  way  they 
bridged  over  the  gulf  which  separates  the  ecclesiasticism  of 
the  earlier  grammar  schools  from  the  secularism  of  modern 
public-school  systems.) 

The  grammar  schools  had  been  for  the  most  part  one- 
teacher  schools,  and  when  the  teacher  was  assisted  by  an 
usher,  there  was  no  distribution  of  the  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion between  the  two.  The  principal  teacher  still  taught 
everything,  and  the  usher  was  merely  a  helper,  who  taught 
the  beginners,  it  might  be,  or  did  whatever  task  was  assigned 
to  him.  This  plan  was  departed  from  when  a  separate 
,  teacher  was  appointed  to  give  instruction  in  writing  and  the 
mathematical  branches.  Such  an  arrangement  foreshadowed 
the  academy  system. 

.      In  the  academies  the  prevalent  form  of  organization  was 

y^that  in  which  the  work  of  instruction  was  divided  among 

y,     two  or  more  teachers,  and  the  distribution  made  according 

to  subjects.     A  partial  variant  from  this  type  is  seen  in 

some  early  co-educational  schools,  where  the  "  preceptor " 

taught  the  boys,  while  the  "  preceptress "  taught  the  girls 

in  another  room.     But  even  in  these  cases,  boys  and  girls 

were  sometimes  brought  together  for  instruction  in  some 

subject  in  which  either  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  teachers 

was  especially  proficient. 

At  the  Leicester  (Massachusetts)  Academy  provision  was 
'  made  at  the  outset  for  a  "  Preceptor  in  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages "  and  a  "  Teacher  of  English,  writing,  arithmetic, 
etc."  These  two  teachers  were  practically  independent  of 
each  other.  In  1821,  however,  the  supervision  of  both 
departments  was  definitely  committed  to  the  preceptor  of 
the  Latin  School,  and  three  years  later  a  horizontal  division 
was  adopted,  into  an  upper  and  a  lower  school.1 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  transition  from  the  age 
of  the  grammar  school  to  the  academy  age  could  be  made 

1  WASHBUKN,  History  of  Leicester  Academy,  pp.  19-20,  30. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES  241 

without  some  conflict  between  their  characteristic  types  of 
education.  There  were  those  in  Massachusetts  who  lamented 
the  passing  of  schools  of  the  earlier  type.  As  far  back  as 
1795,  Samuel  Adams,  in  his  inaugural  address  as  governor 
of  Massachusetts,  said : 

"  It  is  with  satisfaction  that  I  have  observed  the  patriotic  exer- 
tions of  worthy  citizens  to  establish  academies  in  various  parts  of 
the  Commonwealth.  It  discovers  a  zeal  highly  to  be  commended. 
But  while  it  is  acknowledged  that  great  advantages  have  been 
derived  from  these  institutions,  perhaps  it  may  be  justly  appre- 
hended that  multiplying  them  may  have  a  tendency  to  injure 
the  ancient  and  beneficial  mode  of  education  in  town  grammar 
schools. 

"  The  peculiar  advantage  of  such  schools  is  that  the  poor  and 
the  rich  may  derive  equal  benefit  from  them  ;  but  none  excepting 
the  more  wealthy,  generally  speaking,  can  avail  themselves  of  the 
benefits  of  the  academies.  Should  these  institutions  detach  the 
attention  and  influence  of  the  wealthy  from  the  generous  support 
of  the  town  schools,  is  it  not  to  be  feared  that  useful  learning, 
instruction,  and  social  feelings  in  the  early  parts  of  life  may  cease 
to  be  so  equally  and  universally  disseminated  as  it  has  heretofore 
been?"1 

Judge  Phillips  seems  to  have  given  up  the  town  grammar 
school  as  hopeless  before  determining  to  establish  an  academy. 
The  public  was  not  sufficiently  interested  to  get  and  keep 
good  teachers  —  if  such  could  be  found;  the  school  was 
lacking  in  moral  and  religious  vitality ;  and  it  was  unfortu- 
nately bound  down  to  a  study  of  the  classics.8  At  Haverhill, 
as. late  as  1825,  there  was  an  animated  newspaper  discussion 
of  the  question  whether  an  academy  should  be  established  or 
steps  taken  to  improve  the  existing  town  grammar  school.3 

When  the-jifeHLjffpje-QL  schooLcame^tp  be  well  recognized 
and  pqpjil^r^sjonia^tb^QldL^rammar  schools  were  regularly 
transformed  into  academies-  The  Hopkins  school  at  Hadley 

1  Quoted  by  MARTIN,  Massachusetts  public  school  system,  pp.  128-129. 

2  PARK,  Earlier  annals,  pp.  11-20. 

1  BARTLEI T,  Haverhill  Academy,  etc.,  p.  20. 

16 


£42          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

was  one  of  these.  As  early  as  1754,  a  vote  was  passed  de- 
claring that,  "  The  Town  is  willing  that  the  estate  given  for 
the  support  of  a  Grammar  School  in  the  Town  of  Hadley, 
be  employed  ...  for  the  support  of  an  Academy  in  the 
Town  of  Hadley."  If  this  suggestion  had  been  acted  on 
immediately,  Hadley  would  in  all  probability  have  had  the 
first  New  England  academy.  It  was  more  than  Mxty  years, 
however,  before  such  a  step  was  taken.  In  1816  the  trus- 
tees of  the  "Hopkins  Donation  School,"  as  it  was  then 
called,  were  incorporated  by  the  Massachusetts  legislature 
as  "The  Trustees  of  Hopkins  Academy."  In  accordance 
with  the  policy  formulated  in  1797,  the  legislature  made  a 
grant  of  a  half-township  of  land  for  the  "benefit  of  the  new 
academy.  This  was  in  1820. 

A  famous  suit  at  law,  affecting  the  Hopkins  Academy, 
was  carried  through  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts  in 
1833.  The  trustees  were  charged  with  a  perversion  of  the 
true  intent  of  the  Hopkins  foundation  in  that  they  had 
extended  the  privileges  of  the  academy  to  non-residents  of 
Hadley  on  equal  terms  with  members  of  the  home  commu- 
nity. The  court  rendered  its  decision  in  favor  of  the  defence, 
finding  no  ground  for  the  supposition  that  the  endowment 
was  originally  intended  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  inhabi> 
tants  of  Hadley,  This  case  throws  a  side-light  of  some 
importance  on  the  relation  of  the  academies  to  the  public.1 
\  The  grammar  school  at  Koxbury  was  incorporated  in 
1J789,  the  board  of  trustees  being  made  the  successors  of 
ooth  the  feoffees  of  the  original  grammar  school  and  the 
trustees  of  the  Bell  endowment.  In  this  instance,  some 
shreds  of  connection  with  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil  au- 
thorities were  retained ;  for  the  minister  and  the  two  oldest 
deacons  of  the  First  Church  of  Christ  in  Eoxbury  were  made 
members  of  the  corporation  by  virtue  of  their  respective 
offices,  and  the  trustees  were  required  to  exhibit  a  copy  of 
their  accounts  at  the  call  of  the  town  meeting. 

1  Cf.  History  of  the  Hopkins  fund,  grammar  school  and  academy,  ch.  8-10, 
and  15. 


x   THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES     243 

The  grammar  school  at  Hartford,  so  long  maintained,  with 
such  varying  fortunes,  became  virtually  an  academy  by  its 
incorporation  in  1798.  It  still  continued  to  be  a  one-teacher 
school  until  1828,  when  it  was  broadened  out  and  four 
teachers  were  employed.  The  funds,  however,  were  inade- 
quate, and  the  affairs  of  the  school  were  in  a  bad  way  until 
the  high  school  movement  gave  it  new  life  some  eighteen 
years  after  this. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  few  of  the  old  grammar  schools  <, 
successfully  resisted  the  new  movements.     Foremost  among 
these  was  the  Boston  Latin  School,  which  continued  to  be 
a  Latin  school  of  the  earlier  type,  and  devoted  itself  steadily,  , 
and  almost  exclusively,  to  the  preparation  of  students  for  ;, 
admission  to  Harvard  College. 

Under  the  system  adopted  for  the  public  schools  of  Boston 
in  1789,  the  ^minimum  age  for  admission  to  the  Latin  School 1 
was  fixed  at  tern  years,  and  the  course  of  study  was  reduced 
to  four  years.  Children  were  from  this  time  on  admitted 
to  the  reading  and  writing  schools  of  the  town  at  the  age 
of  seven  years,  "  having  previously  received  the  instruction  t 
usual  at  Women's  Schools,"  i.  e.,  at  the  so-called  "  dame 
schools ; "  and  might  continue  vibrating  daily  between  the 
reading  and  writing  schools  up  to  the  age  of  fourteen. 
Those  who  from  the  age  of  ten  entered  the  Latin  school 
were  permitted  to  spend  certain  hours  daily  thereafter  in  a 
writing  school. 

Under  Principal  Gould,  about  1823,  the  age  of  admission 
to  the  Latin  School  was  reduced  to  nine  years,  and  one  year 
was  added  to  the  length  of  the  curriculum.  In  1860,  the 
curriculum  was  lengthened  to  six  years,  and  the  time  of 
admission  raised  again  to  ten  years.  Later  changes  belong 
to  the  high  school  period,  and  show  somewhat  the  influence 
of  the  high  schools  and  of  the  forces  which  have  been 
shaping  the  high  school  policy.3 

1  It  was  not  until  this  time  that  the  name  Latin  School  or  Latin  Grammar 
School  became  definitely  settled  on  the  institution,  which  has  heen  so  designated 
to  the  present  day. 

2  JENKS,  Historical  sketch,  passim. 


244          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  inner  life  of  the  academies  was  different  in  many 
ways  from  that  of  the  earlier  schools.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  academy  students  came  from  a  distance,  and  were  for 
the  time  being  under  the  quasi-parental  oversight  of  the 
academy  teachers.  Dormitories  were  not  generally  provided 
at  first.  The  students  were  boarded  in  the  town  as  were 
those  in  attendance  on  the  county  grammar  schools.  The 
academy  superintendence  was  extended,  in  a  way,  to  their 
life  in  these  temporary  homes.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  institutions  appeared  with  provision  for  the  whole 
round  of  the  student's  life.  Nazareth  Hall,  as  we  saw,  had 
its  dormitory  from  the  start. 

The  average  age  of  academy  students  was  higher  than 
that  of  the  boys  in  the  grammar  schools;  and  it  was  no 
uncommon  thing  to  see  young  men  who  had  already  attained 
their  majority  beginning  Latin  in  one  of  these  schools  along 
with  little  boys.  Benjamin  Abbot,  the  chief  of  our  early  acad- 
emy masters,  was  himself  one  of  those  who  had  started  late. 
In  some  instances  young  volunteers  at  the  close  of  their  army 
service  entered  an  academy  to  continue  their  interrupted 
schooling.  The  presence  of  girls  in  many  of  these  schools 
brought  with  it  an  atmosphere  of  home.  On  the  whole, 
the  discipline  of  the  academies  was  milder  than  that  of 
the  grammar  schools  had  been,  and  the  student  body  was 
characterized  by  somewhat  more  of  maturity  of  thought  and 
purpose. 

^  Student  organizations  soon  began  to  appear.  These  were 
commonly,  at  first,  rhetorical  or  debating  clubs.  Such  a 
club,  known  as  the  Rhetorical  Society,  was  in  existence  at 
Phillips  Exeter  previous  to  the  year  1818.  In  that  year  the 
Golden  Branch  Society  was  organized,  which  seems  before 
long  to  have  taken  the  place  of  the  earlier  organization. 
This  was  a  secret  society  at  the  outset.  It  seems  to  have 
had  great  influence  in  shaping  the  life  of  the  school.  Its 
president,  a  few  years  after  its  founding,  spoke  of  earlier 
days  when  academy  boys  and  town  boys  had  sometimes 
met  in  open  conflict,  armed  with  cudgels,  clubs,  and  even, 


THE   CHARACTER   OF   THE  ACADEMIES  245 

it  was  added,  with  pistols.  He  attributed  the  more  peace- 
able character  which  the  academy  had  then,  in  1824,  achieved, 
to  the  influence  of  the  Golden  Branch.  At  a  later  time  a 
fierce  feud  broke  out  between  this  society  and  the  academy 
boys  who  had  not  been  admitted  to  its  charmed  circle,  but 
it  was  long  before  a  rival  society  was  established.  The 
Social  Fraternity  and  the  Philomathean  Society  of  the  Phil- 
lips Andover  Academy  date  from  about  this  time. 

Annual  and  occasional  "  exhibitions  "  were  affairs  in  which 
the  social  interest  of  the  academy  year  culminated.  We 
find  such  an  exhibition  referred  to  at  Leicester  Academy  as 
early  as  1785.  And  five  years  later  we  hear  of  a  dramatic 
performance  by  the  academy  pupils.  The  academy  plays 
at  Leicester  soon  came  to  be  looked  forward  to  with  great 
anticipations.  They  were  acted  in  the  meeting-house,  if 
contemporary  accounts  may  be  believed.  Scenery  was  con- 
structed, and  both  boys  and  girls  took  part  in  the  represen- 
tation, the  academy  being  co-educational.  One  play  referred 
to  was  the  "  Scolding  Wife."  1 

School  hours  were  shortened  somewhat,  and  there  was 
time  for  play.  At  Leicester,  in  1820,  the  school  day  lasted 
from  eight  to  twelve  in  the  forenoon  and  from  two  to  six  in 
the  afternoon.  But  in  1834  this  was  reduced.  From  half- 
past  eight  to  twelve  and  from  half-past  one*  to  half-past  four 
were  the  hours  then  prescribed,  with  a  change  of  the  after- 
noon session  in  summer  to  make  it  extend  from  two  to 
five.2 

Football  was  the  standard  autumn  game  at  Phillips  Exe- 
ter as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  whole  school  participated  in  this  game,  being  divided 
into  two  equal  sides.  No  one  was  allowed  to  take  the  ball 
from  the  ground,  and  the  game  consisted  for  the  most  part 
of  vigorous  kicking.  "Bat  and  ball"  was  played  in  the 
spring. 

A  very  unfavorable  account  of  American  education  was 

1  WASIIBURX,  op.  cit.t  p.  21. 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  27. 


246          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

published  in  Blackwood's  Magazine  in  the  year  1819.1  It 
begins  with  condemnation  of  the  academies :  "  The  Ameri- 
cans take  a  strange  delight  in  high-sounding  names,  and 
often  satisfy  themselves  for  the  want  of  the  thing,  by  the 
assumption  of  the  name.  These  academies  are  not  always 
exclusively  classical  schools ;  some  are  partly  appropriated 
to  education  for  the  counter  and  the  counting-room;  and 
as  far  as  this  object  goes,  there  is  no  striking  defect  in 
them ;  it  not  being  a  very  difficult  matter  to  teach  a  lad  to 
count  his  fingers  and  take  care  of  his  dollars.  But  in  all 
that  relates  to  classic  learning,  they  are  totally  deficient  j 
there  is  not  one,  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  which  has  yet 
sent  forth  a  single  first-rate  scholar ;  no,  not  one  since  the 
settlement  of  the  country,  equal  even  to  the  most  ordinary 
of  the  thirty  or  forty,  which  come  out  every  year  from 
Schule  Pforta,  and  Meissen.  .  .  .  This  arises  from  bad  mas- 
ters and  a  bad  method  of  study.  .  .  .  They  [the  masters] 
are  mere  language  masters,  not  scholars.  .  .  .  Virgil  and 
Cicero  are  read  in  the  miserable  paraphrases  of  Davidson 
and  Duncan.  In  this  way  the  preparatory  books  are~run 
through  ;  nothing  is  read  but  what  is  necessary  for  matric- 
ulation, and  that  so  superficially  as  to  be  of  no  use." 
/•  The  common  American  practice  of  educating  boys  in  day 
schools  is  condemned.  Those  Carolina  gentlemen  who  have 
sent  their  sons  to  Europe  to  be  educated  are  accorded  high 
praise.  "  The  city  of  Charleston  is  still  illuminated  by  a 
constellation  of  these  European  formed  scholars."  But  the" 
picture  that  is  presented  of  the  country  as  a  whole  is  dark 
enough.  Higher  education  is  shown  to  be  as  badly  off  as 
that  of  middle  grade,  if  not,  indeed,  in  a  worse  condition. 

This  attack  called  forth  a  reply  in  the  North  American 
Revieiv  for  September  of  the  same  year.  But  this  was  a 
rather  halting  production,  admitting  much  that  the  writer  in 

1  Two  articles  Oil  the  means  of  education,  and  the  state  of  learning,  in  the 
United  States  of  America.  Cf.  MR.  McMASTEii's  extended  review  of  the  con- 
troversial literature  of  which  these  articles  formed  a  part,  in  his  History  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  V.,  ch.  48. 


THE   CHARACTER   OF  THE  ACADEMIES  247 

Blackivood's  had  asserted,  and  offering  only  a  vague  answer  to 
such  criticisms  as  met  with  dissent.  The  hopeful  signs  that 
appear  in  this  discussion  are  an  acknowledgment  of  the  high 
attainments  of  Americans  in  the  learned  professions,  and 
some  indications  of  a  disposition  to  improve  the  schools. 

Whatever  their  defects,  it  would  be  difficult  to  measure 
the  influence  of  the  academies  in  our  new  national  life. 
They  were  in  sympathetic  touch  with  our  inchoate  civili- 
zation, and  helped  it  to  find  itself  in  its  relations  with  the 
great  world  of  human  thought.  Revolution  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic  marked  the  age  of  their  early  development. 
The  romantic  movement  was  winning  its  triumphs  in  Eng- 
lish as  well  as  Continental  literature.  The  Americanism 
and  republicanism  of  the  early  academies  was  ready  to 
respond  to  such  influences.  The  romantic  spirit  was  there 
in  full  measure.  So  a  generation  was  brought  up  prepared 
to  appreciate  and  take  pride  in  the  work  of  our  early  Amer- 
ican writers.  Probably  the  great  majority  of  that  constitu- 
ency for  which  Bryant  and  Irving  and  Cooper  and  Sim  ins 
and  Willis  wrote  had  had  their  taste  formed  in  the  old  acad- 
emies or  felt  only  a  little  less  directly  the  academy  influence. 
And  when  the  great  group  of  New  Englanders  began  to 
produce,  a  large  part  of  their  readers  were  such,  as  had 
received  an  academy  education. 

We  have  seen  that  at  the  outset  the  academies  were  not 
intended  as  preparatory  schools,  and  represented  rather  an 
independent  educational  movement.  As  time  went  on,  they 
came  into  close  relations  with  the  colleges.  But  while  the 
grammar  schools  simply  followed  the  lead  of  the  colleges 
and  sought  to  meet  their  requirements,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  academies  reacted  at -the -first  with  some 
degree  of  influence  upon  the  higher  institutions. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  earlier  part 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  colleges  were  receiving  many 
intimations  of  the  fact  that  their  curriculum  did  not  meet 
the  public  need.  The  academies  were  the  popular  institu- 
tions of  the  day  in  more  senses  than  one.  But  the  colleges 


248          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

came  by  slow  degrees  into  closer  adjustment  with  the 
demands  of  the  age.  They  enlarged  their  programme  of  stud- 
ies, but  to  do  this  was  to  add  subjects  already  taught  in 
the  academies.  It  is  altogether  likely  that  one  considera- 
tion which  led  the  colleges  to  make  such  a  change  was  the 
example  of  the  more  popular  schools ;  and  this  seems  all 
the  more  probable  when  we  remember  that  some  of  the 
progressive  college  men  of  the  time  had  had  their  first 
experience  as  teachers  in  one  or  another  of  these  academies. 

An  excellent  example  is  found  in  Timothy^Dwj^ht  the 
elder.  In  his  career  as  an  academy  Jristructor  he  had  taken 
a  deep  interest  in  studies  nTTTaUiral  science? — fie  carried 
this  same  spirit  into  the  presidency  of  Yale  College.  He 
called  about  him  such  men  as  Silliman,  Olnisted,  and 
Dana,  and  soon  made  Yale  the  chief  scientific  centre 
among  our  American  colleges.  This  course  of  action  greatly 
increased  the  popularity  and  influence  of  that  institution^ 
and  was  doubtless  one  reason  why  it  became  such  a  mighty 
force  in  the  making  of  our  western  civilization.  Other 
eastern  colleges,  whether  influenced  by  Yale  or  by  the  acad- 
emies or  by  popular  sentiment  or  by  all  at  once,  expanded 
gradually  their  range  of  instruction. 

The  establishment  of  other  college  courses,  parallel  with 
the  time-honored  classical  course,  seems  to  have  begun  at 
Columbia,  where  a  scientific  and  literary  course  was  offered 
as  early  as  1830.  French  appears  among  the  subjects 
required  for  admission  to  that  course.  This  was  a  notable 
innovation.  It  was  not  until  the  seventies  that  modern  lan- 
guages were  included  among  the  subjects  which  might  be 
offered  for  admission  to  the  classical  course  of  our  leading 
colleges.1  The  "  parallel "  course  at  Columbia  was  discon- 
tinued in  1843.  But  about  this  time  other  colleges  began 
offering  similar  courses ;  and  already  Harvard  was  making 
those  noteworthy  early  experiments  in  the  introduction  of 
elective  college  studies. 

In  English,   mathematics,  and  natural  science,  it  seems 

1  DR.  BROOME'S  MS, 


THE   CHARACTER   OF  THE  ACADEMIES   *        249 

clear  that  some  of  the  academies,  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century  and  for  one  or  two  decades  thereafter,  were  far  in 
advance  of  the  requirements  for  admission  to  college.  Presi- 
dent Dwight  made  his  academy  at  Greenfield  Hill  "not 
only  preparatory  to  but  parallel  with  the  college  course."  l- 
Moses  Waddel,  in  South  Carolina,  prepared  his  hetter  / 
students  to  enter  the  junior  class  in  college.2  Lewis  Cass, 
in  1799,  received  from  Phillips  Exeter  Academy  a  certificate 
to  the  effect  that  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  academy 
seven  years  ;  that  he  had  "  acquired  the  principles  of  the 
English,  French,  Latin,  and  Greek  languages,  Geography, 
Arithmetic,  and  practical  Geometry ; "  and  that  lie  had 
"  made  very  valuable  progress  in  the  study  of  Khetoric, 
History,  Natural  and  Moral  Philosophy,  Logic,  Astronomy 
and  Natural  Law."  3  Yet  neither  geography  nor  arithmetic 
seems  to  have  been  required  for  admission  to  Harvard  Col- 
lege until  1803.  In  the  early  days  of  the  college,  arithmetic 
had  been  a  study  for  the  senior  year.  The  Constitution  of 
the  Episcopal  Academy,  adopted  in  1796,  provided  that  the 
following  subjects  should  be  taught  in  that  institution : 
"  The  English  Language,  Philosophy,  Mathematics,  History, 
and  every  other  science  usually  taught  at  Colleges;  likewise 
the  dead  languages,  such  as  Greek  and  Latin."4  These 
institutions  knew  hardly  any  limit  to  their  studies  except- 
ing such  as  were  fixed  by  the  demand  for  instruction  and 
their  ability  to  meet  that  demand. 

But  in  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  \\S 
high  schools  had  largely  taken  the  place  of  academies  as  the  \ 
ordinary  agency  of  secondary  education,  the  academies  swung 
back    toward    the    position    of   distinctively  "  preparatory " 
institutions.     The  reputation  that  some  of  them  have  gained 
as  among  the  foremost  fitting  schools  for  our  foremost  col- 
leges, has  obscured  the  fact  that  fitting  for  college  was  a 
subordinate  consideration  in  their  original  establishment.    : 

1  STEINER,  Education  in  Connecticut,  p.  136. 

2  MERIWETHER,  Higher  education  in  South  Carolina,  p.  40. 
8  BELL,  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  p.  25. 

*  STEINER,  op.  cit.t  p.  57. 


250          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  new  colleges  growing  up  in  the  western  and  southern 
states,  where  secondary  schools  were  still  few  and  weak, 
were  generally  under  the  necessity  of  maintaining  prepara- 
tory departments.  These  came  to  be  commonly  known  as 
academies.  They  contributed  largely  to  the  secondary  edu- 
cation of  the  newer  portions  of  the  country.  In  not  a  few 
instances,  the  academy  was  first  established,  and  the  college 
was  a  later  development,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Philadel- 
phia institution. 

Whether  the  direct  influence  of  the  academies  on  the 
colleges  was  great  or  small,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the 
greatness  of  their  services  in  certain  other  directions.  A 
new  sense  of  the  need  of  elementary  schools  was  arising  and 
the  number  of  such  schools  was  on  the  increase.  But  there 
'  was  a  great  lack  of  even  moderately  well-prepared  teachers, 
and  the  academies  were  looked  to  for  improvement  in  this 
respect.  We  have  seen  that  one  reason  urged  by  Franklin 
for  the  establishment  of  the  academy  at  Philadelphia  was 
"  that  a  number  of  the  poorer  sort  will  hereby  be  qualified 
to  act  as  schoolmasters  in  the  country."  We  may  well 
imagine  that  the  need  was  great.1 

Again  and  again  we  find  the  establishment  of  academies 
urged  on  the  ground  of  the  need  of  better  teachers  in  the 
elementary  schools.  In  1830  a  seminary  was/opened  by 
Samuel  K.  Hall,  in  connection  with  the  Phillips  Academy  at 
Andover,  for  the  special  preparation  of  teachers  for  the 
common  schools.  Horace  Mann  visited  and  studied  this 
school  when  he  was  engaged  in  furthering  the  state  normal 
school  movement.  The  Kegents  of  the  University  of  New 

1  Governor  Worthington  of  Ohio,  in  1817,  recommended  that  a  free  school 
be  established  at  the  capital  of  the  state  "  to  educate  .  .  .  the  sons  of  poor 
parents  (no  other)  for  teachers."  Quoted  by  MAYO,  Education  in  the  North- 
west during  the  first  half  century  of  the  Republic.  Report  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  1894-95,  p.  1531.  In  this  case  poor  evidently  refers  to 
lack  of  means  rather  than  lack  of  brains  ;  perhaps  so  in  Franklin's  suggestion. 
In  Jefferson's  scheme,  the  brighter  pupils  who  had  completed  the  grammar 
school  course  were  to  be  sent  to  college  and  those  less  bright  were  to  be  sent 
out  as  teachers. 


THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ACADEMIES     251 

York  in  their  annual  report  of  1821  say  of  the  academies : 
"  It  is  to  these  seminaries  that  we  must  look  for  a  supply 
of  teachers  for  the  common  schools."  In  1833  teachers' 
classes  were  instituted  in  these  New  York  academies. 
Repeated  efforts  were  made  in  Pennsylvania  to  make  the 
academies  answer  the  purpose  of  normal  schools.  Finally,  ~~ 
when  the  organization  of  state  normal  schools  began,  in 
1839,  the  institution  that  came  into  being  was  an  academy 
without  foreign  languages,  in  which  students  were  instructed 
in  the  various  school  subjects  with  especial  reference  to  the 
consideration  that  they  were  in  their  turn  to  teach  those 
subjects  to  others. 

Not  only  were  the  academies  the  direct  forerunners  of  the  -i, 
normal  schools:  the  academy  movement  was  connected  also 
with  a  great  forward  movement  in  the  higher  education  of 
women.  In  colonial  times  the  education  which  girls  might 
receive  consisted  of  the  mere  learning  in  some  dame  school 
to  read  and  to  recite  the  catechism,  in  addition  to  the  training 
to  household  arts  in  the  home,  and  the  religious  instruction 
given  from  the  pulpit.  The  story  is  told  of  a  hungry- 
minded  little  girl  in  Hatfield,  Massachusetts,  who  used  to  go 
to  the  school-house  and  sit  on  the  doorstep  to  hear  the  boys 
recite  their  lessons.1  Such  privileges  were  not  for  those  of 
her  sex. 

When  the  town  school  was  first  set  up  in  Dorchester,  the 
selectmen  were  directed  to  determine  from  time  to  time 
whether  "  the  maydes  shall  be  taught  with  the  boys  or  not." 
The  decision  of  this  question  seems  not  to  have  been  in  the 
affirmative  for  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  —  not  in-  s 
deed  till  1784,  when  girls  were  allowed  to  attend  the  school 
during  the  summer  months.2 

The  regulations  adopted  for  the  Hopkins  Grammar  School 
at  New  Haven,  in  1684,  provided, 

"  2.    That  noe  Boyes  be  admitted  into  ye  sd  Schoole  for  y*  learn- 
ing of  English  Books,  but  such  as  have  been  before  taught  to  spell  yr 

1  STOW,  ML  Holyoke  Seminary,  p.  4 
a  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVII.,  p.  105. 


252          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS. 

letters  well  &  begin  to  Bead  .  .  .  &  y*  all  others  either  too  young 
&  not  instructed  in  letters  &  spelling  &  all  Girles  be  excluded  as 
Improper  &  inconsistent  wth  such  a  Grammar  Schoole  as  ye  law 
injoines,  and  is  ye  Designe  of  this  SettlernV'1 

It  does  not  appear  whether  the  stigma  of  impropriety 
attached  chiefly  to  the  youth,  the  illiteracy,  or  the  femi- 
ninity of  those  excluded. 

Yet  even  in  this  period  there  were  girls  who  persuaded 
their  fathers,  brothers,  or  friends  to  teach  them,  and  in 
various  irregular  ways  some  young  women  did^rise  to  the 
attainment  of  knowledge  beyond  the  merest  rudiments. 
In  the  Revolutionary  period,  and  for  some  years  previous, 
the  demand  for  learning  was  already  so  strong  on  the  part 
of  young  women  and  girls  that  some  sort  of  provision  was 
made  here  and  there  for  their  instruction.  Teachers  in 
boys'  schools,  as  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  formed  classes 
out  of  their  regular  school  hours  for  teaching  girls  writing, 
arithmetic,  and  the  elements  of  English  grammar. 

In  the  Diary  of  David  McClure  we  find  a  reference, 
under  date  of  November  7,  1773,  to  a  school  of  exceptional 
character  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  "  The  Selectmen 
invited  me,"  so  the  journal  reads,  "  to  take  the  care  of  a 
public  School  of  Misses."  The  invitation  was  accepted, 
and  the  account  continues  under  date  of  December  1 : 

"  Opened  the  School,  consisting  the  first  day  of  about  30  Misses. 
Afterwards  they  increased  to  70  and  80 ;  so  that  I  was  obliged  to 
divide  the  day  between  them,  <fc  one  half  came  in  the  forenoon,  and 
the  other  in  the  Afternoon.  They  were  from  7  to  20  years  of  age. 
Mr.  Samuel  Parker,  afterwards  settled  in  the  ministry  in  Boston, 
was  my  predecessor  in  the  school.  I  attended  to  them  in  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic  &  geography  principally.  This  is,  I  believe, 
the  only  female  School,  (supported  by  the  town)  in  New  England, 
it  is  a  wise  and  useful  institution."  2 

1  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVIII.,  p.  303. 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  143, 


-THE   CHARACTER   OF   THE  ACADEMIES  253 

Dr.  MeClure  was  engaged  to  keep  the  school  for  five 
months  at  a  salary  of  ,£60  "per  annum,"  the  five  months 
presumably  constituting  the  annum. 

T*he  reminiscences  of  the  Eev.  William  Woodbridge  seem 
to  indicate  that  about  the  year  1770  girls  were  taught  in 
the  public  schools  in  and  around  Hartford,  Connecticut. 
They  "  had  no  separate  classes,  though  generally  sitting  on 
separate  benches."  l 

There  is  not  much  in  any  of  the  schools  referred  to  above 
that  could  by  any  stretch  of  the  term  be  brought  within  the 
compass  of  secondary  education.  But  after  the  Eevolution, 
private  schools  for  girls,  of  a  somewhat  higher  grade,  began 
to  appear.  Several  Yale  men  were  prominent  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  this  movement.  Two  Yale  students,  during  the 
interruption  of  college  exercises  by  the  British  occupation 
of  New  Haven,  in  1779-80,  taught  each  a  class  of  young 
women  for  the  term  of  one  quarter.  One  of  them,  the  Eev. 
William  Woodbridge,  of  the  class  of  1780,  kept  a  young 
ladies'  school  at  New  Haven  during  his  senior  year,  in  which 
he  taught  grammar,  geography,  composition,  and  rhetoric.2 
Jedediah  Morse  had  a^Wte^scliool  at  New  Haven  in  1783. 
And  Timothy  Dwigfl  MPr  teaching  a  mixed  school  at 
Northampton,  made  mWEcademy  at  Greenfield  Hill,  opened 
in  1785,  a  co-educational  institution. 

About  the  year  1780  an  academy  for  girls  was  established 
by  Dr.  Eush  and  others  at  Philadelphia.3  A  few  other  in- 
stitutions, either  co-educational  or  for  girls  only,  -appeared 
before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  A  "female 
academy  "was  maintained  at  Medford  from  1789  to  1796, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in 
New  England.4  Leicester  Academy  (1784)  and  Westford 
Academy  (1793)  were  co-educational  from  the  start.  Brad- 
ford Academy  (1803)  was -Bo-educational  for  many  years,  and 
then  became  a  school  for  girls  alone.5 

1  Reminiscences  of  Senex.     Reproduced  in  the  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  XXVII., 
pp.  273-276. 

2  Id.,  p.  274.  »  Loc.  tit.  *  Loc.  cit. 
*  STOW,  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  p.  7. 


254          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE    SCHOOLS 

In  1814,  Catherine  Fiskc  began  her  twenty-three-year 
term  of  service  as  a  teacher  of  young  women  at  Keene,  New 
Hampshire.  More  than  ....  entj  ^ve  hundred  in  all  caiub  to 
her,  and  she  taught  them  botany,  chemistry,  WattsJ^j|he 
Mind,  and  other  studies.1  The  Rev.  Josepn  Emerson's 
seminary  for  young  women  at  Byfield  and  Saugus,  1818- 
24,  received  about  one  thousand  pupils,  many  of  them 
young  school-teachers.  It  is  of  especial  significance  in  this 
record  because  of  the  fact  that  Miss  Zilpah  P.  Grant  (Mrs. 
William  B.  Banister)  and  Miss  Mary  Lyon  received  in  it 
some  part  of  their  academic  training  and  a  great  part  of  that 
inspiration  which  made  them  apostles  of  education  to  the 
women  of  New  England.2 

Emma  Hart  (Mrs.  John  Willard)  after  teaching  for  a 
time  at  "Westfield,  Massachusetts,  Middlebury,  Vermont,  and 
Waterford,  New  York,  founded  in  1821  the  Troy  Seminary, 
at  Troy,  New  York,  which  commanded  widespread  interest. 
It  is  said  that  two  hundred  schools  for  girls,  one-half  of 
them  in  the  southern  states,  have  come  into  existence  as  a 
result  of  the  influence  of  this  one  institution.3  Miss  Cath- 
erine Beecher's  seminary  at  1^^1^(1822-32)  also  exer- 
cised a  very  wide  influence.  rfl|  Bigs  of  Miss  Beecher, 
added  to  her  success  in  the  conolHP^this  school,  contrib- 
uted very  greatly  to  the  growing  popularity  of  woman's 
education.  The  Adams  Academy  at  Derry,  New  Hampshire 
(1823),  was  the  first  in  New  England  to  be  endowed  and 
incorporated  expressly  for  the  education  of  girls.  Miss 
Grant  and  Miss  Lyon  were  co-laborers  in  this  school  for 
four  years.  Then  they  removed  to  Ipswich,  where  the  first 
incorporated  girls'  academy  in  Massachusetts  came  into 
existence  in  1828.  The  Abbot  Academy  at  Andover  was 
incorporated  the  following  year.4 

Caleb  Bingham  and  Ebenezer  Bailey  and  many  others  had 
an  honorable  part  in  this  earlier  movement.  Finally,  in  the 

1  STOW,  op.  cit.,  p.  8.  2  Id.,  ch.  3. 

3  Emma  Willard  and  her  pupils,  eh.  1-5. 

4  STOW,  op.  cit.,  chs.  1  and  3. 


THE   (  HARACTER   OF  TttE  ACADEMIES  255 

eighteen-huridrcd-thirties,  two  institutions  were  established 
that  have  led  the  two  main  lines  of  advance  in  the  higher 
education  of  women.  A  new  college,  bristling  all  over  with 
unpopular  principles,  was  established  in  1833  at  Oberlin,  Ohio, 
which  courageously  introduced  the  innovation  of  collegiate 
co-education.  The  labors  of  Mary  Lyon  culminated .  in  the 
incorporation  of  the  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  in  1836. 
These  institutions,  as  they  were  then,  would  look  poor  and 
weak  in  comparison  with  any  high-grade  college,  whether 
co-educational  or  for  women  only,  of  the  present  day.  But 
they  were  great  in  the  nobility  of  their  purposes,  and  in 
their  promise  of  these  later  developments. 

The  beginnings  which  were  making  at  this  same  time  in 
the  education  of  girls  at  Catholic  convents  are  referred  to  in 
another  place.  That  movement  had  some  direct  connection 
with  the  one  we  are  considering  here ;  for  the  Catholic  com- 
petition lent  new  spirit  to  the  efforts  of  those  who  were 
seeking  to  build  up  Protestant  schools  for  girls.  The  fear 
of  religious  and  political  dangers  which  might  arise  if  the 
mothers  of  the  land  should  be  generally  educated  in  convent 
schools  is  often  referred  to  in  the  discussions  of  the  time. 

One  other  consideration  which  greatly  stimulated  this 
movement  toward  a  higher  education  forewomen  was  the 
fact  that  women  were  coming  to  be  much  more""  generally 
employed  as  teachers.  There  was  need  of  a  larger  num- 
ber who  should  be  well  enough  educated  to  give  intelli- 
gent instruction  to  the  little  ones.  The  normal  school 
movement  and  movements  in  the  education  of  women 
have  more  than  once  been  found  very  closely  bound 
together. 

But  perhaps  even  more  weight  should  be  attached  to  the 
growing  conviction  that  education  is  a  good  thing  in  itself. 
The  nineteenth  century  ideal  of  liberal  culture  —  a  culture 
which  is  proper  to  human  beings  simply  because  they  are 
human  —  carried  the  day  for  the  education  of  women  in  the 
face  of  the  question,  "  Who  shall  cook  our  food  if  girls  are 
to  be  taught  philosophy  ?  " 


256          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  strong  religious  trend  of  the  acaden  ies  has  already 
been  referred  to.  Generally  speaking,  they  were  not  founded 
for  the  immediate  theological  purpose  which  was  upper- 
most in  the  organization  of  the  schools  of  the  noncon- 
formists in  England.  Yet  the  Phillips  Andover  Academy 
has  had  an  intimate  connection  with  tfte  development 
of  theological  instruction  in  this  country.  Dr.  Bancroft, 
the  late  principal  of  *  this  academy,  said  of  the  Andover 
Theological  Seminary :  "  It  claims  to  be  the  first  regular 
theological  seminary  distinctively  and  exclusively  organized 
for  the  theological  training  of  ministers  of  Protestant 
churches  in  the  United  States."  l  It  seems  clear  that  the 
idea  not  only  of  general  religious  instruction  but  of  provision 
for  the  direct  preparation  of  young  men  for  the  ministry 
was  entertained  by  the  founders  of  that  academy  from  the 
outset ;  and  a  theological  professor  was  employed  for  some 
years  before  the  theological  seminary  was  established.  The 
seminary  proper  was  opened  in  1808.  Before  that  time 
Protestant  theological  institutions  had  been  established  at 
New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey ;  Xenia,  Ohio ;  and  Bethle- 
hem, Pennsylvania  ;  and  a  Catholic  seminary  at  Baltimore. 

This  brief  survey  can  give  only  a  hint  of  the  part  which 
the  old  academies  have  played  in  our  national  life.  For  a 
better  understanding  o'f  the  springs  of  their  influence  we 
must  get  some  glimpses  of  the  personal  touch  and  tone. of 
academy  teaching,  which  was  after  all  the  most  vital  thing  in 
the  whole  academy  history.  This  portion  of  their  story  will 
be  told,  in  some  small  part,  in  the  chapter  on  Teachers  and 
Teaching. 

NOTE 

In  the  interest  of  brevity,  it  has  been  necessary  to  make  this  chapter  for 
the  most  part  a  composite  picture  of  the  remarkable  class  of  schools  with 
which  it  deals.  There  was  enough  of  unity  in  the  spirit  and  general  move- 
ment of  these  multifarious  institutions  to  make  such  treatment  possi- 
ble, yet  it  has  been  followed  with  a  full  sense  of  the  danger  it  involves 

1  See  BUSH,  Hit/her  education  in  Mass.,  p.  236  ff. 


THE   CHARACTER   OF  THE  ACADEMIES  257 

of  neglecting  a  thousand  important  differences.  The  materials  used  have 
been  drawn  from  many  sources,  but  chiefly  from  a  large  number  of  his- 
tories of  individual  schools.  The  titles  of  these  histories,  so  far  as 
they  have  come  under  my  personal  examination,  are  given  in  the  general 
bibliography.  I  should  be  glad  to  be  told  of  other  publications  of  this 
sort.  There  are  doubtless  many  which  have  not  yet  come  to  my  notice. 


17 


CHAPTER  XII 
TEACHERS  AND   TEACHING 

THESE  old  academies  have  been  held  in  loving  remembrance 
by  those  who  enjoyed  their  privileges.  It  is  pleasant  to 
read  such  words  of  reminiscence  as  their  old-time  students 
have  put  on  record,  and  not  surprising  that  they  sometimes 
lament  the  glory  departed,  when  they  turn  their  attention  to 
the  high  school  of  these  later  days.  Some  of  this  feeling  is 
doubtless  due  to  the  fact  so  often  noted  that  scenes  grow 
fairer  as  they  pass  from  present  experience  to  become  only 
things  remembered.  But  that  is  not  all.  Individual  enter- 
prise and  the  endeavors  of  small  groups  of  friends  and 
neighbors,  overcoming  difficulties  together,  played  a  large 
part  in  the  making  of  those  academies.  A  personal  and 
romantic  interest  attaches  to  such  undertakings,  which  is 
often  missed  in  great  public  systems  like  our  state  systems 
of  schools.  An  institution  that  was  picturesque  and  inter- 
esting enough  when  standing  alone  may  be  thought  com- 
monplace when  it  appears  as  one  among  many  of  the  same 
sort,  all  organized  under  uniform  statutory  provisions. 

There  were  other  reasons  for  the  strong  hold  those  acade- 
mies gained  upon  the  affection  of  their  students.  And  among 
these  must  be  mentioned  the  fact  that,  through  some  fortu- 
nate combination  of  circumstances,  a  goodly  number  of  very 
able  teachers  were  at  one  time  and  another  employed  in 
them.  Some  of  these  fine  old  masters  should  be  mentioned 
by  name  in  such  a  sketch  as  this. 

The  second  principal  at  Phillips  Exeter,  Benjamin*  Abbot, 
LL.I).,  is  perhaps  the  most  famous  of  those  early  teachers 


TEACHERS  AND  TEACHING          259 

whose  reputation  rests  altogether  upon  their  academy 
career.  He  was  an  Andover  man,  and  came  of  a  long  line 
of  ancestors  who  had  all  lived  upon  the  same*  Andover  farm. 
Benjamin  was  nineteen .  years  of  age  when  he  entered  the 
newly  opened  Phillips  Andover  Academy  and  began  the 
study  of  Latin.  He  was  one  of  Principal  Pearson's  boys. 
In  1788  he  was  graduated  from  Harvard  College,  and  was 
immediately  called  to  teach  at  Phillips  Exeter.  He  was 
virtually  the  head  of  the  institution  from  that  time  on,  and 
in  1790*  was  regularly  elected  to  the  principalship.  His 
salary  at  the  first  was  "  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  pounds 
six  shillings  and  eight-pence,  lawful  money,"  per  year.  It 
was  soon  increased  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  In 
1799  it  was  made  seven  hundred  dollars.  He  had  also  the 
free  use  of  a  dwelling  house. 

He  was  a  tall  man,  finely  proportioned,  graceful  in  every 
movement,  and  his  pupils  long  remembered  the  sweet  and 
gentle  dignity  of  his  expression.  It  has  been  said  that  he 
knew  the  "  science  of  boys."  He  had  a  long  forefinger,  and 
boys  of  every  sort  trembled  when  he  shook  it  ominously 
before  them.  He  punished  with  notable  thoroughness,  but 
the  culprit  was  restored  to  respect  and  favor  as  soon  as  the 
punishment  was  over.  Judge  H.  C.  Whitman,  of  Cincin- 
nati, recalled  in  after  years  one  occasion  on  which  he  was 
directed  to  come  to  the  library  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, to  meet  Dr.  Abbot  on  serious  business.  He  was  met  at 
the  front  door  with  the  command,  "  Go  round  to  the  back 
door,  sir."  Having  reached  the  library  from  the  rear  of  the 
house,  he  had  an  interview  with  the  Doctor  which  he  does 
not  describe  in  detail.  But  at  the  close  he  was  taken  to  the 
front  door  and  bowed  politely  out ! 

The  father  of  Lewis  Cass  hesitated  to  send  his  son  to  the 
academy  because  the  boy  was  so  wild  and  hard  to  manage. 
But  the  preceptor  said,  "  Send  him  to  me,  and  I  '11  see  what 
I  can  do  with  him."  The  experiment  was  altogether  suc- 
cessful. After  it  had  gone  on  for  several  months,  the  elder 
Cass  declared  to  Dr.  Abbot  that  "  if  Lewis  was  half  as  afraid 


260          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

of  the  Almighty  as  he  is  of  you,  I  should  never  have  any 
more  trouble  with  him." 

Of  his  scholarship  a  very  favorable  account  is  given. 
Cicero  and  Horace  were  his  favorite  authors.  His  reading 
of  the  Latin  text  of  the  orations  against  Catiline  and  the 
Carmen  Sceculare  was  highly  expressive,  and  produced  a 
great  impression  upon  his  pupils.  He  was  a  student,  and 
kept  up  a  living  acquaintance  not  only  with  new  works 
relating  to  the  classic  literatures  and  languages,  but  with 
current  publications  in  the  fields  of  politics,  theology,  gen- 
eral literature,  and  education.  His  own  contribution  to  the 
literature  of  classical  study  was  not  unimportant.  At  his 
request,  a  friend  who  visited  Europe  in  1802  looked  into 
the  methods  of  instruction  at  Eton  and  other  prominent 
schools,  and  made  him  acquainted  with  the  results  of  the 
investigation. 

In  1838,  Dr.  Abbot  withdrew  from  the  principalship  of 
the  academy,  in  which  he  had  labored  with  great  success  for 
the  period  of  fifty  years.  A  jubilee  festival  was  held  on 
this  occasion,  and  many  men,  former  pupils  of  the  school 
who  had  become  eminent  in  various  walks  in  life,  came 
together  at  Exeter  to  do  honor  to  the  great  teacher.  Daniel 
Webster  presided  at  the  celebration.  Letters  were  read 
from  Lewis  Cass,  Josiah  Quincy,  and  Dr.  Dana.  Speeches 
were  made  by  Edward  Everett,  John  P.  Hale,  Caleb  Gushing, 
and  others  whose  reputation  was  national.  Dr.  Abbot  was 
presented  with  a  massive  silver  vase,  Mr.  Webster  making 
the  presentation  address.  His  portrait  was  presented  to  the 
academy.  Funds  were  subscribed  to  found  an  Abbot  scholar- 
ship at  Cambridge.  It  must,  from  all  accounts  have  been  a 
time  when  good  feeling  overflowed  and  school  reminiscence 
was  at  its  best.  We  may  well  doubt  whether  many  occa- 
sions worthy  to  be  compared  with  this  have  been  known  in 
the  history  of  our  secondary  schools. 

Dr.  Abbot  was  succeeded  in  the  principalship  of  the 
academy  by  the  hardly  less  venerated  Gideon  Lane  Soule, 
who  had  been  a  teacher  in  the  institution  since  1822.  Dr. 


TEACHERS  AND   TEACHING  261 

Soule's  jubilee  was  celebrated  with  warmth  and  enthusiasm 
in  1872.1 

The  constitutions  of  both  of  the  Phillips  academies 
charged  the  trustees  to  exercise  great  care  in  the  selection 
of  suitable  men  for  the  principalship.  This  injunction  was 
heeded  at  Andover  as  well  as  at  Exeter.  Here  the  first 
principal,  Eliphalet  Person,  afterwards  professor  of  Hebrew 
at  Harvard,  and  still  later  back  at  Andover,  in  the  theologi- 
cal seminary,  was  a  man  of  great  force  and  versatility  and 
of  commanding  presence.2  To  the  boys  he  was  "  Elephant 
Pearson."  A  pupil  who  had  been  reprimanded  by  him  was 
asked  how  he  came  through  the  ordeal.  The  youngster 
replied,  "  I  pinched  myself  to  see  whether  I  was  alive." 
Washington  is  reported  to  have  said  of  this  master,  "  His 
eye  shows  him  worthy  not  only  to  lead  boys,  but  to  com- 
mand men." 

He  rendered  the  Commander  no  unimportant  service ;  for 
when  Judge  Phillips  erected  his  powder  mill,  he  depended 
on  his  friend,  the  schoolmaster,  to  help  him  over  the  diffi- 
culty of  a  lack  of  saltpetre.  Pearson  improvised  a  labora- 
tory, and  by  dint  of  hard  labor,  study,  and  experiment,  found 
a  way  to  supply  the  missing  ingredient.  At  another  time 
he  showed  skill  of  a  different  sort  by  constructing  a  bass 
viol,  which  stood  for  a  long  time  in  the  Old  South  church  at 
Andover. 

Our  earliest  account  of  the  routine  life  of  Phillips  An- 
dover is  contained  in  a  letter  addressed  by  Principal  Pear- 
son to  his  trustees,  in  1780  : 

"  School  begins  at  eight  o'clock  with  devotional  exercises ;  a 
psalm  is  read  and  sung.  Then  a  class  consisting  of  four  scholars 
repeats  memoriter  two  pages  in  Greek  Grammar,  after  which  a  class 

1  BELL,  Phillips  Exeter  Academy.  CUNNINGHAM,  Familiar  sketches. 
Article  in  N.  A.  Rev.  for  July,  1858. 

2  "    ...  Great  Eliphalet  (I  can  see  him  now,  — 

Big  name,  big  frame,  big  voice,  and  beetling  brow)." 

HOLMES,  The  School-boy. 


262          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

of  thirty  persons  repeats  a  page  and  a  half  of  Latin  Grammar; 
then  follows  the  '  Accidence  tribe,'  who  repeat  two,  three,  four, 
five  and  ten  pages  each.  To  this  may  be  added  three  who  are 
studying  arithmetic ;  one  is  in  the  Rule  of  Three,  another  in  Fel- 
lowship, and  the  third  in  Practice.  School  is  closed  at  night  by 
reading  Dr.  Doddridge's  Family  Expositor,  accompanied  by  rehear- 
sals, questions,  remarks  and  reflections,  and  by  the  singing  of  a 
hymn  and  a  prayer.  On  Monday  thefscholars  recite  what  they 
can  remember  of  the  sermons  heard  on  the  Lord's  Day  previous  ; 
on  Saturday  the  bills  are  presented  and  punishments  administered."  * 

The  story  of  John  Adams,  who  was  principal  of  Phillips 
Andover  from  1810  to  1833,  has  recently  been  put  before 
the  public  in  a  very  readable  volume.2  Dr.  Adams  came  to 
the  principalship  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  Had  already  won  distinction 
by  his  success  in  the  principalship  of  the  academy  at  Plain- 
field,  Connecticut,  and  of  the  Bacon  Academy,  at  Colchester 
in  the  same  state.  About  two  thousand  pupils  had  been 
under  his  instruction.  He  was  a  straightforward,  simple- 
hearted  man,  who  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  duties  of  his 
office.  He  would  have  no  ceremony  of  inauguration,  but 
when  the  time  came  to  enter  upon  his  new  duties,  he  went 
straight  to  the  schoolroom  alone  and  took  up  the  work  of 
the  day. 

It  is  the  successor  of  this  schoolroom,  in  a  building 
erected  several  years  after  Dr.  Adams  began  his  labors  at 
Andover,  that  is  celebrated  by  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  in 
his  centennial  anniversary  poem, 

"THE  SCHOOL-BOY. 

"  How  all  comes  back  !  The  upward  slanting  floor,  — 
The  masters'  thrones  that  flank  the  central  door,  — 
The  long,  outstretching  alleys  that  divide 
The  rows  of  desks  that  stand  on  either  side,  — 

1  The  story  of  John  Adams,  pp.   47-48.     Josiah  Quincy's  recollections  of 
Phillips  Academy  in  the  days  of  Principals  Pearson  and  Pemberton  are  given 
in  EDMUND  QUINCY,  Life  of  Josiah  Quincy,  ch.  2. 

2  Already  cited  in  the  preceding  foot-note. 


TEACHERS  AND   TEACHING  263 

The  staring  boys,  a  face  to  every  desk, 

Bright,  dull,  pale,  blooming,  common,  picturesque. 

Grave  is  the  Master's  look  ;  his  forehead  wears 

Thick  rows  of  wrinkles,  prints  of  worrying  cares  ; 

Uneasy  lie  the  heads  of  all  that  rule, 

His  most  of  all  whose  kingdom  is  a  school. 

Supreme  he  sits;  before  the  awful  frown 

That  bends  his  brows  the  boldest  eye  goes  down  ; 

Not  more  submissive  Israel  heard  and  saw 

At  Sinai's  foot  the  Giver  of  the  Law." 

We  are  assured  that  so  far  as  it  goes  this  is  a  faithful 
description  of  both  the  room  and  the  master. 

There  were  twenty-three  boys  in  the  Andover  Academy 
when  Dr.  Adams  became  its  principal.  By  1817,  it  had 
increased  to  one  hundred,  and  the  Preceptor  had  three 
assistants.  In  all,  Dr.  Adams  admitted  1,119  pupils  to  the 
academy.  Nearly  one-fifth  of  these  became  ministers.  In 
1832,  his  catalogue  showed  ninety  pupils  —  a  slight  falling- 
off  since  the  early  twenties.  Phillips  Exeter,  too,  admitted 
fewer  pupils  during  the  third  decade  of  the  century  than 
during  the  second,  and  a  still  smaller  number  in  the 
eighteen-hundred-thirties.  Dr.  Adams  reported  that  his 
ninety  were  all  pursuing  classical  studies. 

Thucydides  and  Herodotus  were  introduced  into  the  acad- 
emy early  in  Dr.  Adams's  principalship.  It  is  said  of  the 
Doctor's  scholarship  that,  "  His  attainments,  if  not  brilliant, 
were  substantial.  What  he  knew  he  knew  thoroughly,  and 
he  had  an  unusual  faculty  for  communicating  knowledge  to 
the  minds  of  others." 

But  he  became  conscious  of  the  fact  that  members  of  his 
board  of  trustees  desired  a  younger  man  in  the  principal- 
ship  of  the  institution.  He  immediately  resigned  his  office, 
and  began  looking  for  another  position.  There  is  some- 
thing very  pitiful  in  the  story  of  his  wearisome  search  over 
New  England  and  New  York  for  a  place  in  which  his 
undoubted  talents  should  be  in  demand.  The  father  of 
a  former  pupil,  finally,  gave  him  cordial  encouragement  to 
open  a  school  at  Elbridge,  in  New  York.  There  for  three 


264          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

years  he  conducted  an  institution  which  afterwards  grew 
into  Monroe  Academy. 

In  the  Andover  days,  Dr.  Adams  had  been  associated 
with  the  professors  of  the  Theological  Seminary  in  project- 
ing the  American  Education  Society,  an  organization  which 
exerted  a  strong  influence  in  the  building  up  of  educational 
institutions  in  the  new  west.  Andover  was  in  fact  one  of  the 
chief  centres  of  the  educational  propaganda  which  the  east 
was  beginning  to  carry  on  in  the  west ;  and  John  Adams 
was  quite  in  touch  with  movements  in  which  he  had  long 
been  deeply  concerned,  when  he  withdrew  from  the  acad- 
emy at  Elbridge,  and  went  on  a  difficult  educational  pil- 
grimage to  the  wilds  of  Illinois. 

In  that  new  country  he  labored  for  long  years  as  a 
teacher  and  Sunday-school  missionary,  and  there  he  died, 
in  Jacksonville,  in  the  ninety-first  year  of  his  age.  His 
career  is  worthy  of  very  honorable  mention  ;  and  no  part  of 
it  shows  more  of  the  real  soundness  of  the  man's  character 
than  does  his  ready  giving-up  of  the  dearest  associations 
of  his  life  when  the  good  of  his  school  seemed  to  demand 
the  sacrifice,  and  his  turning  without  bitterness  to  throw 
the  whole  strength  of  his  later  years  into  new  and  arduous 
labors. 

We  may  get  a  glimpse  of  school  life  at  Andover  in  the 
time  of  Principal  Adams,  from  a  letter  of  William  Person,  a 
student  in  the  academy : 

"  PHILLIPS  ACADEMY,  June  18,  [1814]. 

"  I  will  relate  to  you  the  order  of  our  studies,  which,  while  it 
may  amuse,  may  also  serve  to  apologise  for  my  delay.  I  will 
begin  on  Sunday,  as  that  is  the  first  day  of  the  week.  If  we  are 
absent  from  meeting,  where  our  attendance  is  strictly  required,  we 
are  noted  for  absence  by  some  one  of  the  monitors,  and  our 
names  are  reported  to  the  Principal  on  the  monitor's  bill  at  the 
end  of  the  term.  We  are  liable  to  be  called  upon  the  next  day  to 
give  an  abstract  of  the  sermons.  For  morning  recitations  on 
Monday  we  are  allotted  ten  pages  of  Vincent's  explanations  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism.  This  must  be  com- 


TEACHERS  AND   TEACHING  265 

raitted  on  Sunday  or  Monday  morning,  as  we  have  no  other  time. 
For  morning  recitations  on  Saturday  about  as  many  pages  of  an 
inestimable  tract  by  Mason  on  Self-knowledge ;  this  we  learn  as 
we  have  opportunity  between  Monday  and  Saturday.  So  much  of 
our  time  and  attention  is  given  to  religious  and  moral  studies.  It 
is  not  only  a  useful  exercise  for  the  memory,  but  it  is  an  excellent 
method  of  bringing  us  to  an  acquaintance  with  God,  with  man- 
kind and  with  ourselves  —  knowledge  of  the  greatest  possible  im- 
portance. [We  can  hardly  doubt  that  this  little  dissertation  on 
educational  values  is  an  echo  of  the  sayings  of  the  preceptor.] 
Mondays,  Tuesdays  and  Wednesdays  (afternoon  of  the  latter 
excepted)  are  engaged  in  our  common  classical  studies ;  ditto 
Thursday  and  Friday,  and  Saturday  in  the  forenoon.  Wednesday 
afternoons  in  every  week  are  devoted  to  declamation.  From  this 
pleasing  exercise  no  scholar  is  excepted.  I  begin  to  get  a  little 
acquainted  with  Latin.  Have  progressed  as  far  as  the  fiftieth  page 
in  the  Epitome.  Write  Latin  from  Clark's  Introduction  every 
Thursday  afternoon.  Also  practice  writing  one  hour  every  day  on 
Wrifford's  plan,  under  the  direction  of  a  writing  master  from  the 
divinity  college.  For  absence,  tardiness,  and  for  every  detected 
foible  our  names  are  entered  on  the  monitor's  bill,  with  the  charges 
respectively  annexed,  which  is  shown  to  the  Preceptor  at  the  end 
of  the  term,  and  we  are  obliged  to  give  satisfactory  reasons  for  our 
remissness  in  these  particulars,  etc.  This  relation  will  at  once  con- 
vince you  that  I  have  but  little  leisure."  1 

How  delightfully  vague  is  that  "  etc."  In  the  literary  slang 
of  our  day,  it  is,  indeed,  a  little  touch. 

The  charges  referred  to  may  have  been  actual  money 
items.  At  Nazareth  Hall,  a  little  earlier,  there  was  a  regu- 
lar system  of  fines :  "  A  farthing  for  talking  at  meals,  a  ha' 
penny  for  falling  on  the  floor,  Id.  for  tearing  a  leaf  out  of  a 
hook,  2d.  for  telling  a  lie,  M.  for  an  oath. "  2 

Perhaps  one  chief  cause  of  the  dissatisfaction  with  Prin- 
cipal Adams  may  be  found  in  the  very  intensity  of  his 
devotion  to  the  religious  side  of  the  school's  activities.  Since 
his  time,  the  institution  may  not  have  been  less  religious  in 

1  The  story  of  John  Adams,  pp.  90-92. 
a  REICHEL,  Nazareth  Hall,  p.  149. 


266          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

reality  ;  but  its  purely  religious  aspect  has  been  rather  less 
conspicuous  and  its  emphasis  upon  classical  scholarship 
rather  more  marked.  Mr.  Osgood  Johnson's  short  term  in 
the  principalship,  from  1833  to  1837,  is  remembered  as  a 
time  of  almost  religious  devotion  to  the  finest  things  in  the 
classical  studies. 

Then  followed,  1837-71,  the  long  and  notable  career 
of  Principal  Samuel  H.  Taylor,  which  many  men  not  yet 
old  recall  with  the  warmth  of  personal  affection.  "  The 
spirit  of  Taylor,"  wrote  the  Kev.  William  E.  Park,  "  calls  up 
that  of  Pearson.  They  stand  confronting  each  other  like 
the  two  towers  of  a  suspension  bridge.  .  .  .  There  was 
not  in  the  soul  of  Taylor  much  of  the  low  material  of  scep- 
ticism ;  ...  he  was  emphatically  a  man  of  faith,  made  up 
of  many  faiths.  A  strong  underlying  belief  in  the  possi- 
bilities of  human  nature ;  a  deep  sense  of  that  which  the 
scholar  can  be  made  to  be ;  a  reliance  upon  the  power  of 
correct  habits  ;  a  thorough,  heartfelt,  unaffected  belief  in  the 
efficacy  of  classical  literature  as  the  great  educating  force, 
with  a  partial  failure  to  appreciate  the  developing  power  of 
other  studies ;  a  boundless  confidence  in  his  own  ability  to 
instruct,  causing  some  neglect  in  his  oversight  of  the  work  of 
his  subordinates,  combined  to  make  this  remarkable  man."  J 

The  first  President  Dwight  holds  a  place  of  no  small 
importance  in  the  history  of  American  literature  and  of 
American  theology.  His  fame,  however,  rests  chiefly  upon 
his  contribution  to  American  education.  The  greatness  of 
his  service  to  Yale  College  is  universally  recognized,  but 
little  stress  has  been  laid  upon  his  career  as  an  academy 
instructor.  This  aspect  of  his  many-sided  activity  calls  for 
notice  not  only  because  of  its  importance  in  the  development 
of  our  secondary  education,  but  also  because  of  its  intimate 
connection  with  his  later  work  in  the  college,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made. 

The  grandson  of  Jonathan  Edwards  and  first  cousin  of 

1  Earlier  annals  of  Phillips  Academy,  pp.  49-50.  Cf.  HORACE  E. 
SCUDDER'S  estimate  in  Harper  s  Magazine,  LV.,  pp.  565-568. 


TEACHERS  AND   TEACHING  267 

Aaron  Burr  might  be  expected  to  rise  above  the  common- 
place. But  Timothy  D wight  must  have  been  a  superhuman 
being,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  eulogies  of  his  disciples.  His 
manners  and  his  personal  presence  are  described  as  wonder- 
fully winning  and  impressive.  He  was  an  orator  of  inde- 
scribable persuasiveness.  His  memory  was  phenomenal; 
his  vigor  of  thought  so  great  that  ordinary  men  found  their 
strength  gone  at  the  mere  contemplation  of  his  achievements. 
He  learned  the  alphabet  at  one  lesson.  At  the  age  of  six, 
the  Latin  grammar  was  kept  from  him  for  his  own  good. 
But  he  got  hold  of  a  copy,  and  twice  went  through  it  on  the 
sly,  as  Jack  Homer  might  have  eaten  the  spoils  of  his  two 
thumbs.  He  might  easily  have  been  ready  for  college  at 
the  age  of  eight,  but  was  made  to  wait  till  he  was  thirteen. 
At  seventeen  he  was  graduated  and  became  master  of  the 
Hopkins  Grammar  School  in  New  Haven.1  From  nineteen 
to  twenty-five  he  was  tutor  in  the  college,  where  he  gained 
a  prodigious  influence  over  his  students.  He  was  one  of  the 
Yale  literary  group,  and  matched  Trumbull's  McFingal  with 
his  own  Conquest  of  Canaan.  At  different  times  during 
the  disturbance  caused  by  the  Kevolutionary  War,  when  the 
college  was  scattered,  students  resorted  to  him  for  instruc- 
tion at  places  remote  from  New  Haven.  He  entered  the 
Christian  ministry  and  became  chaplain  of  a  brigade  in 
General  Putnam's  division  of  the  Continental  army.  His 
sermons  and  daily  ministrations  gained  for  him  great  influ- 
ence in  the  army.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  Washing- 
ton, who  honored  him  with  courteous  attentions.  Later  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature,  where, 
in  addition  to  other  services,  his  Yale  eloquence  stemmed 
the  tide  that  was  running  against  a  proposed  appropriation 
for  Harvard,  and  secured  the  adoption  of  the  bill.2  Such 
was  the  man  who  in  1783  was  settled  over  the  parish  of 

1  So  in  his  biography ;  but  the  records  of  the  school  do  not  bear  out  the 
statement,  and  the  point  is  still  in  doubt. 

2  Samuel  Phillips  was  in  the  state  senate  at  this  time,  and  he  and  Dwight 
.came  into  close  relations  with  each  other. 


268          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Greenfield,  in  Connecticut,  and  soon  thereafter  added  to  his 
pastorate  the  conduct  of  the  Greenfield  Hill  Academy. 

If  the  eulogies  seem  exaggerated,  Timothy  Dwight  must 
at  the  least  have  been  a  very  remarkable  man  to  have  made 
the  exaggeration  so  unanimous.  From  one  point  of  view, 
we  may  regard  him  as  the  noblest  after-development  of  the 
Great  Awakening.  The  finer  educational  impulses  of  that 
wave  of  religious  enthusiasm  came  out  at  their  best  in  the 
life  of  this  man.  He  had  close  affinities,  too,  with  those 
choice  spirits  of  the  earlier  academy  movement  in  England. 
One  writer  speaks  of  his  "  universal  thirst  for  knowledge ; " 
his  "unbounded  love  of  knowledge  in  every  form."  This 
was  a  true  academy  trait,  from  Milton  down.  In  his  tutor 
days  he  had  given  a  great  impetus  to  the  study  of  rhet- 
oric at  the  college.  He  plunged  into  Newton's  Principia. 
In  his  Greenfield  Hill  Academy  he  carried  his  pupils  forward 
in  their  studies  with  a  fine  disregard  of  all  formal  metes 
and  bounds.  He  conducted  some  of  them  well  on  through 
the  studies  of  a  college  course,  and  he  taught  them  subjects 
not  found  in  the  ordinary  college  course  of  that  day. 

One  of  his  biographers  adds  that,  "  In  his  school  he 
adopted  to  a  considerable  degree,  one  part  of  the  Lancas- 
terian  mode  of  instruction ;  making  it  extensively  the  duty 
of  the  older  scholars,  who  were  competent,  to  hear  the 
recitations  of  the  younger."  l  Another  noteworthy  charac- 
teristic of  the  school  at  Greenfield  Hill  was  the  fact,  to 
which  reference  has  already  been  made,  that  it  was  co-edu- 
cational. President  Dwight  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  the  education  of  women.  It  was  with  him  a 
matter  of  principle.  He  firmly  believed,  in  opposition  to  the 
prevailing  opinion  of  the  time,  that  women  had  minds  equal 
to  those  of  men  in  their  capacity  for  education.  Even  before 
he  went  to  Greenfield,  he  had  conducted  a  school  for  both 
sexes  at  Northampton.  He  had  a  high  appreciation  of 
feminine  excellence,  and  it  is  said  that  he  greatly  loved  the 
company  of  refined  and  intelligent  women. 

1  Memoir,  prefixed  to  his  Theology,  p.  17. 


TEACHERS  AND   TEACHING  269 

He  gave  freely  of  his  time  to  the  conduct  of  the  academy, 
putting  in  his  six  hours  daily  at  the  school  house  as  regu- 
larly as  any  teacher.  At  the  same  time  he  was  discharging 
the  duties  of  his  pastorate,  preparing  his  system  of  theology, 
exercising  a  wide  hospitality,  cultivating  a  large  garden 
with  his  own  hands,  and  composing  in  verse  for  recreation. 
Young  people  flocked  to  his  academy  not  only  from  New 
England,  but  also  from  the  middle  and  southern  states.  It 
was  carried  on  through  the  twelve  years  of  his  Greenfield 
pastorate,  and  during  that  time  he  taught  more  than  one 
thousand  pupils.  Professor  Denison  Olmsted,  who  had 
been  both  student  and  tutor  under  President  Dwight  at 
Yale,  said  years  afterward  that  in  his  youth  he  had  been 
acquainted  with  men  distinguished  for  their  literary  attain- 
ments and  high  intelligence  whose  education  had  all  been 
acquired  in  this  school  at  Greenfield  Hill. 

In  his  poem  entitled  Greenfield  Hill,  Dr.  Dwight  gave  a 
sketch  of  his  school.  It  had  been  his  purpose  to  imitate 
different  British  poets  in  the  several  portions  of  this  poem  — 
a  design  which  he  finally  abandoned ;  but  the  influence  of 
Goldsmith  is  readily  seen  in  the  following  passages : 

"  Where  yonder  humbler  spire  salutes  the  eye, 
It's  vane  slow  turning  in  the  liquid  sky, 
Where,  in  light  gambols,  healthy  striplings  sport, 
Ambitious  learning  builds  her  outer  court ; 
A  grave  preceptor,  there,  her  usher  stands, 
And  rules,  without  a  rod,  her  little  bands. 
Some  half-grown  sprigs  of  learning  grac'd  his  brow  : 
Little  he  knew,  though  much  he  wish'd  to  know, 
Inchanted  hung  o'er  Virgil's  honeyed  lay, 
And  smiled  to  see  desipient  Horace  play  ; 
Glean'd  scraps  of  Greek  ;  and  curious,  trac'd  afar, 
Through  Pope's  clear  glass,  the  bright  Mseonian  star. 
Yet  oft  his  students  at  his  wisdom  star'd, 
For  many  a  student  to  his  side  repair'd, 
Surpriz'd,  they  heard  him  Dilworth's  knots  untie, 
And  tell,  what  lauds  beyond  the  Atlantic  lie." 

"  Many  his  faults ;  his  virtues  small  and  few; 
Some  little  good  he  did,  or  strove  to  do ; 


270          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Laborious  still,  he  taught  the  early  mind, 
And  urg'd  to  manners  meek,  and  thoughts  refin'd  ; 
Truth  he  impress'd,  and  every  virtue  prais'd ; 
While  infant  eyes,  in  wondering  silence,  gaz'd." 

The  south  was  not  lacking  in  eminent  academy  instruc- 
tors, one  of  whom,  Moses  Waddel,  established  a  remarkable 
school  at  Willington,  South  Carolina,  in  1804.  Mr.  Meri- 
wether  has  gathered  together  much  interesting  information 
with  reference  to  this  institution.  Architecturally,  the 
establishment  must  have  been  a  rude  and  diminutive  pro- 
totype of  the  University  of  Virginia. 

"  Instead  of  large,  luxurious  dormitories  for  the  students,  were 
built  little  log  huts,  with  chimneys  of  wood  usually,  but  sometimes 
of  brick.  The  students  were  encouraged  to  build  these  themselves. 
The  whole  formed  '  a  street  shaded  by  majestic  oaks,  and  com- 
posed entirely  of  log  huts,  varying  in  size  from  six  to  sixteen  feet 
square.  .  .  .  The  street  was  about  forty  yards  wide  and  the  houses 
ten  or  twelve  ranged  on  the  sides,  either  built  by  the  students 
themselves  or  by  architects  hired  by  them.'  The  common  price 
was  five  dollars  for  a  house,  '  on  front  row,  waterproof,  and  easily 
chinked.  .  .  In  the  suburbs  were  several  other  buildings  of  the 
same  kind  erected  by  literary  recluses  .  .  .  who  could  not  endure 
the  din  of  the  city  at  play-time  —  at  play-time,  we  say,  for  there 
was  no  din  in  it  in  study  hours.  At  the  head  of  the  street  stood 
the  academy,  differing  in  nothing  from  the  other  buildings  but  in 
size,  and  the  number  of  its  rooms.'  There  were  two  rooms  in  this, 
one  for  the  primary  pupils,  while  *  the  larger  was  the  recitation 
room  of  Dr.  Waddel  himself,  the  prayer-room,  court-room,  and 
general  convocation  room  for  all  matters  concerning  the  school. 
It  was  without  seats  and  just  large  enough  to  contain  one  hundred 
and  fifty  boys  standing  erect,  close  pressed,  and  leave  a  circle  of 
six  feet  diameter  at  the  door  for  jigs  and  cotillons  at  the  teachers' 
regular  soirees  every  Monday  morning.'  " 

Dr.  Waddel  conducted  this  academy  for  fifteen  years, 
when  he  withdrew  to  become  president  of  the  University  of 
Georgia.  During  this  period  he  had  among  his  pupils  a 


TEACHERS  AND   TEACHING  271 

surprising  number  of  young  men  who  rose  to  high  position 
in  after  years.  He  prepared  John  C.  Calhoun  and  Judge 
A.  B.  Longstreet  to  enter  the  junior  class  at  Yale ;  and 
rendered  a  similar  service  to  Governor  Patrick  Noble,  who 
went  to  the  junior  class  at  Princeton,  and  to  George 
McDuffie  —  governor,  senator,  and  mighty  orator — whom 
he  sent  to  the  junior  class  at  the  University  of  South 
Carolina.  William  H.  Crawford,  who  in  1824  came  near  to 
the  presidency  of  the  United  States,  was  another  of  his 
students,  and  the  list  of  eminent  names  might  be  greatly 
extended. 

The  master  was  strict  in  discipline  and  did  not  spare  the 
rod.  He  insisted  upon  thorough  work  and  steady  attention 
to  business.  His  students,  some  of  whom  had  grown  to 
manhood  before  they  entered  his  school,  respected  him  and 
loved  him,  and  the  memories  of  Willington  were  held  by 
them  in  the  highest  reverence. 

It  would  seem  that  Dr.  Waddel  was  particularly  mindful 
of  individual  differences  among  his  pupils.  He  did  not 
neglect  to  stimulate  the  brighter  boys  as  well  as  to  urge  on 
the  backward  and  negligent.  Perhaps  this  is  one  reason 
why  so  many  of  fine  natural  abilities  came  to  him,  and  why 
they  made  the  most  of  their  talents  when  they  went  out 
into  active  life. 

"  George  Carey  prepared  a  thousand  lines  of  Virgil  for  a  Monday's 
recitation  when  at  Willington.  The  Virgil  class  was  too  large,  and 
its  members  were  of  such  unequal  grade,  that  the  teacher  announced 
that  it  would  be  divided  on  the  basis  of  the  work  done  by  each  one 
by  the  following  Monday,  and  it  was  under  this  stimulus  that 
Carey  did  his  work.  George  McDuffie  excelled  this  intellectual 
feat  a  year  or  so  later  with  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  twelve 
lines  of  Horace.  He  was  poor,  and  was  boarded  gratuitously  in 
the  family  of  Mr.  William  Calhoun.  His  ability  was  first  recog- 
nized by  James  Calhoun,  who  aided  him  in  his  attendance  at  the 
South  Carolina  College.  He  was  a  very  hard  student  and  is  said 
*  to  have  devoured  his  Latin  grammar  in  three  weeks.' " 

1  MERIWETHER,  Higher  education  in  South  Carolina,  ch.  2. 


272          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Something  should  be  said  of  the  instruction  which  was 
going  on  in  the  mean  time  in  the  old  grammar  schools  that 
still  survived.  The  Autobiography  of  the  first  president  of 
the  University  of  North  Carolina,  the  Eev.  Joseph  Caldwell, 
D.D.,  gives  us  details  of  the  daily  routine  in  some  New 
Jersey  schools  just  after  the  Ke volution,  and  shows  inciden- 
tally the  improvement  of  methods  which  came  in  from 
Scotland  by  way  of  Princeton  College. 

"  I  think,"  he  says,  "it  was  in  the  year  1784,  when  I  was  eleven 
or  twelve  years  of  age,  a  Latin  grammar  was  wanted,  and  upon  in- 
quiry none  was  to  be  had.  .  .  .  One  of  the  boys  .  .  .  having  one  on 
hand  that  was  nearly  worn  out,  gave  it  to  me.  .  .  .  The  grammar 
was  .instantly  and  eagerly  commenced,  and  as  eagerly  prosecuted . 
till  finished.  Corderius,  Selecta  e  Veteri,  Selecta  e  Profanis, 
Caesar,  Greek  Grammar,  Greek  Testament,  Hair's  Introduction, 
Virgil,  and  perhaps  some  other  books,  followed  in  as  quick  succes- 
sion as  intent  application  could  compass  them.  [This  was  in  the 
grammar  school  of  Princeton  College.]  Before  my  entering  college, 
our  family  removed  to  Newark,  where  my  studies  were  continued 
under  Dr.  McWhorter.  The  school  at  Princeton  was  made  an 
object  of  special  regulation,  and  sometimes  of  personal  attention  by 
Dr.  Witherspoon  [president  of  the  college].  From  this  circum- 
stance it  certainly  had  singular  advantages  in  comparison  with 
other  academies.  The  modes  of  instruction,  and  the  exercises  in 
which  we  were  trained,  were  derived  immediately  from  Scotland. 
Of  their  superior  efficacy  I  was  made  sensible  by  the  change.  Dr. 
McWhorter  was  undoubtedly  among  the  best  teachers  in  the 
country,  but  in  the  class  with  which  I  was  united,  everything 
came  so  easily  in  my  preparations  that  it  was  almost  like  sport, 
while  the  rest  of  the  class  appeared  to  meet  as  much  difficulty  as 
they  could  well  vanquish.  This  difference  proceeded  from  the 
different  methods  of  teaching,  and  I  was  perfectly  convinced  of  it 
at  the  time." l 

A  foot-note  is  appended  to  this  account,  which  adds  the 
following  information : 

1  Autobiography  of  Joseph  Caldwell,  p.  16. 


TEACHERS  AND  TEACHING  278 

"  In  Mair's  Introduction,  it  was  the  custom  at  Newark  to  write 
down  no  more  than  two  or  three  of  the  longer  sentences  in  good 
Latin,  as  a  weekly  task  on  Saturday.  But  in  Princeton  we  were 
required  to  come  prepared  every  forenoon,  while  we  were  in  that 
book,  to  read  the  whole  of  one  of  those  sentences  in  English,  and 
then  to  repeat  it  with  equal  promptness  in  correct  Latin ;  and  our 
daily  appointment  was  two  or  three  pages.  Nor  was  this  all. 
For  we  then  closed  our  books,  and  the  instructor  would  read  to  us 
long  portions  of  the  English,  and  we  must  give  the  Latin  of  them 
without  mistake  in  word  or  grammatical  construction,  from  begin- 
ning to  end.  We  were  not  permitted  to  do  this  tardily,  for  riot 
only  if  any  one  made  a  mistake,  but  if  he  did  not  move  directly 
forward  in  enunciating  the  translation  of  the  sentence  put  to  him, 
the  next  below  was  to  pronounce  it  forthwith,  and  if  successful, 
was  to  take  his  place.  To  a  student  trained  to  this  vigor  and 
promptness  of  thought  and  action,  what  difficulty  could  there  be  in 
writing  down  two  or  three  sentences  in  corrected  Latin  as  a  weekly 
exercise,  as  was  the  custom  at  Newark  1  We  wrote  Latin  versions 
weekly  at  Princeton  also,  but  we  had  nothing  but  English  sentences 
given,  and  we  selected  the  Latin  words  and  phraseology  for  our- 
selves. This  taught  us  the  use  of  words  agreeably  to  their  true 
classical  import.  Dr.  Witherspoon  had  various  methods  of  drilling 
a  class.  One  was  to  run  a  verb,  as  it  was  called,  through  all  the 
successive  tenses  and  moods  in  the  first  person,  then  in  the  second 
person,  the  third,  and  so  on  ;  and  to  repeat  the  imperative,  the  in- 
finitive, the  gerunds,  supines,  and  participles.  This  was  done  in 
both  voices.  Another  exercise  consisted  in  comparing  an  adjective, 
and  keeping  up  the  repetition  of  the  degrees,  through  all  the  gen- 
ders and  cases  in  both  numbers.  A  third  method  of  giving  us  skill 
was  to  carry  an  adjective  through  the  cases  and  numbers  in  company 
with  a  masculine  substantive,  then  with  a  feminine,  and  then  with 
a  neuter.  A  fourth  exercise  was  to  come  prepared  daily  with  a 
page  or  two  of  vocables,  so  as  to  give  the  English  for  the  Latin,  and 
the  Latin  for  the  English.  In  another  instance,  he  would  select  a 
Latin  verb,  and  call  upon  each  of  us,  successively,  to  give  a  corn* 
pound  with  the  meaning,  till  all  the  compounds  were  exhausted. 
A  sixth  exercise  was  made  out  by  taking  some  verb,  as  ago,  having 
various  idiomatic  imports  according  to  its  connection,  and  we  were 
required  to  give  examples  of  its  idiomatic  uses.  This  note  is  sub- 

18 


274         TH£  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

joined  evidently  not  for  all  readers,  but  as  a  suggestion  to  teachers. 
But  these  are  by  no  means  all  the  methods  of  drilling  to  which  we 
were  called.  When  we  first  commenced  any  one  of  them,  we  were 
slow ;  but  the  quickness  to  which  we  presently  attained,  was  evidence 
of  the  improvement  consequent  upon  such  practice.  The  most  effi- 
cient cause  of  the  high  degree  of  perfection  at  which  scholars 
arrive  in  European  grammar  schools  and  scientific  institutions,  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  diversity  of  exercises  devised  and  continually  prac- 
ticed through  the  whole  course  of  education." 

Dr.  Caldwell,  it  may  be  added,  was  himself  a  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  that  long  line  of  educational  missionaries 
which  Princeton  College  was  sending  out  to  the  south 
and  west. 

The  post-revolutionary  history  of  the  Boston  Latin  School, 
or  at  least  the  earlier  half  of  that  history,  comes  in  for  some 
notice  here.  The  school  was  reopened  a  few  months  after 
the  town  was  evacuated  by  the  British.  But  during  the  first 
generation  of  its  later  career  it  passed  through  troublous 
times.  The  discipline  was  harsh  and  ineffective  and  the 
instruction  of  an  inferior  quality.  The  published  reminis- 
cences of  the  daily  life  of  the  school  about  1811,  when  Ealph 
Waldo  Emerson  was  one  of  its  pupils,  describe  a  most  de- 
plorable state  of  affairs.  The  rattan  was  in  use  much  of  the 
time,  its  operation  being  interspersed  with  altercations 
between  the  master  and  the  boys  undergoing  punishment. 
The  master  indulged  in  a  sardonic  pedagogue  humor,  illus- 
trating the  rules  of  grammar  with  strokes  of  the  rod,  or 
improvising  in  doggerel  rhyme, 

"  If  I  see  any  boy  catching  flies, 
I'll  whip  him  till  he  cries, 
And  make  the  tears  run  out  of  his  eyes ;  " 

or  at  another  time, 

"  If  you'll  be  good,  I'll  thank  you  ! 
If  not,  I '11  spank  you!" 

The  boys  called  him  Sawney,  and  he  had  his  own  plenti- 
ful vocabulary  of  epithets  to  apply  to  them.  The  cramming 


TEACHERS  AND  TEACHING  275 

and  coaching  for  public  examinations,  by  which  this  master 
sought  to  conceal  the  defects  of  his  daily  instruction,  was  of 
the  most  shameless  sort. 

Mr.  Emerson  told  of  the  ultimate  downfall  of  this  regime : 

"  One  day  when  [the  master  referred  to]  was  giving  orders  to 
the  boys  on  one  side  of  the  School  there  was  a  sudden  shout  on 
the  opposite  side.  He  turned  around  amazed  to  them,  and  in- 
stantly the  boys  on  the  eastern  side  roared  aloud.  I  have  never 
known  any  rebellion  like  this  in  the  English  Schools  to  surpass 
it.  I  think  the  School  was  immediately  dismissed,  and  I  think 

Mr.  [ ]  never   entered   it   again.     I   remember   that   on   the 

following  morning  the  prayer  was  simply  these  words:  'Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.' " l 

A  young  man,  hardly  out  of  college,  Mr.  Benjamin 
Apthorp  Gould,  was  then  called  to  the  mastership,  and 
under  his  rule  the  school  was  soon  brought  to  a  high 
state  of  efficiency.  He  left  his  mark  on  the  organization  of 
studies  and  instruction  for  half  a  century. 

Mr.  Gould's  own  account  of  the  school  as  it  was  in  the 
eigh teen-hundred-twenties  is  one  of  the  most  explicit  state- 
ments that  we  have  of  the  actual  school  management  of 
that  time.  It  is  well  worth  reproducing  as  a  whole ;  but  in 
the  interest  of  brevity  only  a  portion  of  it  is  presented  here : 

"  The  scholars  are  distributed  into  six  separate  apartments,  under 
the  care  of  the  same  number  of  instructors;  viz.  a  Principal,  or 
Head  Master,  a  Sub-Master,  and  four  Assistants.  For  admission, 
boys  must  be  at  least  nine  years  old ;  able  to  read  correctly  and 
with  fluency,  and  to  write  running  hand ;  they  must  know  all  the 
stops,  marks,  and  abbreviations,  and  have  sufficient  knowledge  ot 
English  grammar  to  parse  common  sentences  in  prose.  .  .  .  The 
regular  course  of  instruction  lasts  five  years ;  and  the  School  is 
divided  into  five  classes  according  to  the  time  of  entrance. 

"When  a  class  has  entered,  the  boys  commence  the  Latin 
Grammar  all  together,  under  the  eye  of  the  Principal ;  where  they 
continue  until  he  has  become  in  some  degree  acquainted  with  their 

i  The  text  of  these  reminiscences  is  given  in  the  Catalogue  of  1886, 
previously  referred  to. 


276          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

individual  characters  and  capacities.  As  they  change  places  at 
each  recitation,  those  boys  will  naturally  rise  to  the  upper  part  of 
the  class,  who  are  most  industrious,  or  who  learn  with  the  greatest 
facility.  After  a  time  a  division  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  boys  is 
taken  off  from  the  upper  end  of  the  class ;  after  a  few  days  more, 
another  division  is  in  like  manner  taken  off ;  and  so  on  until  the 
whole  class  is  separated  into  divisions  of  equal  number,  it  having 
been  found  that  from  twelve  to  fifteen  is  the  most  convenient 
number  to  drill  together. 

"...  The  class,  thus  arranged  for  the  year,  is  distributed 
among  the  assistant  teachers,  a  division  to  each.  ...  As  writing  is 
not  taught  in  the  School,  the  younger  classes  for  the  first  two  or 
three  years  are  dismissed  at  eleven  o'clock,  an  hour  before  school  is 
done,  that  they  may  attend  a  writing  school.  .  .  . 

"  When  this  distribution  is  made,  the  boys  continue  for  the 
year  in  the  apartment  in  which  they  are  first  placed,  unless  some 
particular  reason  should  exist  for  changing  them ;  or  when  the 
higher  divisions  attend  the  Sub-Master  for  instruction  in  Geography 
and  Mathematics,  to  whom  these  departments  are  committed. 

"This  method  of  studying  each  branch  separately,  is  adopted 
throughout  the  school.  The  same  individuals  do  not  study  Latin 
one  part  of  the  day,  and  Greek  the  other,  but  each  for  a  month  at 
a  time ;  and  so  with  mathematics,  except  that  the  lesson  for  the 
evening,  which  is  usually  a  written  exercise,  or  a  portion  of  Latin 
or  Greek  to  be  committed  to  memory,  is  in  a  different  department 
from  the  studies  of  the  day.  .  .  . 

"At  the  close  of  every  month  the  boys  in  each  department 
undergo  a  rigid  examination  in  all  the  studies  of  that  month.  .  .  . 
The  rank  of  each  scholar  and  his  seat  for  the  succeeding  month  are 
determined  by  this  examination,  unless  an  account  of  places  for 
each  recitation  of  the  month  has  been  kept,  in  which  case  they  are 
determined  by  a  general  average.  [The  monitor  and  his  '  bill ' 
are  referred  to  briefly.] 

"  Boys  commence  with  Adam's  Latin  Grammar,  in  learning  which 
they  are  required  to  commit  to  memory  much  that  they  do  not 
understand  at  the  time,  as  an  exercise  of  memory,  and  to  accustom 
them  to  labor  [!]."  [Some  further  apology  is  offered  for  this  prac- 
tice.] "  It  takes  from  six  to  eight  months  for  a  boy  to  commit  to 
memory  all  that  is  required  in  Adam's  Grammar;  but  those  who 
do  master  the  grammar  completely,  seldom  find  any  difficulty  after- 


TEACHERS  AND  TEACHING 


277 


wards  in  committing   to    memory  whatever  may  be   required  of 
them.  ..."     [Indeed,  who  can  doubt  it1?] 

"  The  examples  under  the  rules  of  syntax  are  the  first  exercises 
in  parsing.  The  Liber  Primus  is  the  first  book  after  the  grammar. 
No  more  of  this  is  taken  for  a  lesson  than  can  be  parsed  thoroughly. 
This  and  the  grammar  form  the  studies  of  the  first  year." 

The  studies  of  the  remaining  years  of  the  course  are  given 
as  follows : 

Second  Tear. 


Graeciae  Historiae  Epitome. 

Viri  Romae. 

Phaedri  Fabulae  (Burman's  text, 
with  English  notes). 

Cornelius  Nepos. 

Ovid's  Metamorphoses  (by  Wil- 
ly mot  te). 


(Scansion,  rules  of  prosody, 
"capping  verses,"  etc.) 

Valpy's  Chronology  of  Ancient 
and  English  History. 

Dana's  Latin  Tutor  (for  com- 
position). 

Tooke's  Pantheon. 


Third  Tear. 

Greek  Grammar. 
Caesar's  Commentaries. 
Electa  ex  Ovidio  et  Tibullo. 
Delectus     Sententiarum     Grae- 
carum. 


Col.  Gr.  Minora,  Sallust,  Virgil. 
(Written   translations   in    Eng- 
lish.) 


Fourth  and 

Latin    Tutor,     continued ;    fol- 
lowed by 

Valpy's  Elegantise  Latinee. 
Bradley's  Prosody. 
Cicero's     select     orations,     De 
Ofnciis,    De    Senectute,   and 
De  Amicitia. 

Horace  Exp., Juvenal  and  Persius 
Expur. 

[Does  the  longer  abbre- 
viation imply  that  the 
expurgation  went  fur- 

1  Other  books  of  which  use  was 
Schrevelius'  Greek  Lexicon,  Hedericus 


Fifth  Tears. 

ther  in  the  latter  than 
in  the  former  case  1  ] 

Greek  Primitives. 

Xenophon's  Anabasis. 

Maittaire's  Homer. 

Greek  Testament. 

Wyttenbach's  Greek  Historians. 

Geography  (Worcester's). 

Arithmetic  (Colburn,  Lecroix). 

Geometry  (Euclid). 

Trigonometry,  and  its  uses. 

Algebra  (Euler),  etc.1 

made  were  Neilson's    Greek  exercises, 
,  Scapula,  Morell's  Thesaurus,  Walker's 


278          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Mr.  Gould  gives  a  very  interesting,  detailed  account  of 
the  methods  of  instruction  in  Latin  prose  composition,  from 
the  second  year  on ;  in  composition  in  verse,  fourth  and 
fifth  years ;  and  in  arithmetic,  in  the  same  period.  Pupils 
were  required  to  make  their  own  rules  in  arithmetic,  and 
in  both  arithmetic  and  geometry  the  blackboard  was  freely 
used. 

"  On  Saturdays  the  whole  School  comes  together  in  the  hall  for 
declamation.  .  .  .  This  is  the  only  day  in  the  week  in  which  all 
the  instructors  and  scholars  unite  in  any  religious  or  literary 
exercise."  * 

It  is  evident  that  in  the  Latin  school,  under  Principal 
Gould,  as  in  the  grammar  school  at  Princeton,  under  the 
oversight  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  close  attention  was  paid  to 
the  manner  and  the  matter  of  instruction,  and  the  school 
gave  some  quickening  to  the  spiritual  life  of  its  pupils. 
But  such  was  not  generally  the  case  with  the  classical 
instruction  of  the  time.  There  are  numerous  indications 
that  in  many  of  the  schools  it  was  flat  and  unprofitable  in 
the  extreme. 

NOTE 

The  books  referred  to  in  this  chapter  call  for  no  further  comment.  So 
much  light  is  thrown  upon  our  educational  history  by  well-edited  "  Lives  " 
of  our  old-time  schoolmasters  and  school-makers,  that  it  is  pity  we  have 
not  more  works  available  of  this  sort. 

Classical  Key,  Lempriere's  Classical  Dictionary,  Adam's  Roman  Antiquities, 
Entick's  and  Ainsworth's  Latin  Dictionary  —  a  sufficiently  extensive  list. 
Most  of  these  are  mere  names  to  present-day  teachers. 
1  JENKS,  Historical  sketch,  pp.  60-64. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD   PUBLIC   CONTROL 

WE  have  seen  how  French  influence  was  at  work,  along 
with  forces  native  to  America,  in  the  making  of  early  state 
systems  of  education.  The  idea  of  an  education  for  the 
people  under  the  fostering  care  and  general  oversight  of 
the  civil  authorities,  was  now  abroad  in  the  land,  and  was 
finding  widespread  application  in  our  governmental  systems. 
But  the  several  schools  through  which  our  state  governments 
carried  on  their  educational  work  were  not  generally  under 
the  immediate  management  of  public  corporations. 

The  characteristic  type  of  academy  administration,  as  has 
been  shown,  is  that  carried  on  through  a  board  of  trustees 
who  are  not  themselves  teachers  in  the  institution  which 
they  control,  who  have  no  pecuniary  interest  in  that  insti- 
tution, and  who  fill  vacancies  in  their  own  number  by  a 
process  of  co-optation.  This  form  of  organization  is  equally 
characteristic  of  the  American  college,  from  the  time  that  a 
distinctly  American  type  of  college  cornes  into  view. 

With  all  of  its  obvious  advantages,  this  system  provides 
no  means  by  which  the  public,  in  case  of  prevalent  dissatis- 
faction with  the  management  of  an  institution,  can  readily 
effect  changes  in  accordance  with  its  desires.  This  may 
or  may  not  be  regarded  as  a  disadvantage  of  the  system, 
according  to  the  point  of  view  of  the  one  passing  judgment 
upon  it.  The  historical  fact  which  concerns  us  here  is  that 
a  great  wave  of  objection  to  this  system  swept  over  our 
country,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  educational 
institutions  under  direct  public  control.  The  earlier  prod- 
uct of  this  movement  was  the  state  university.  A  later 


280          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

product  was  the  public  high  school.  We  shall  get  a  better 
understanding  of  the  movement  as  a  whole  if  we  con- 
sider first  that  aspect  of  it  out  of  which  came  our  state 
universities. 

The  fact  has  already  been  noted  that,  about  the  time  of 
the  Revolution,  there  was  growing  up  a  widespread  distrust 
of  the  colleges  as  then  conducted.  This  took  many  forms,  and 
was  shared  by  men  of  the  most  diverse  political  and  religious 
convictions.  But  it  all  came  back  virtually  to  this :  That 
no  one  of  the  colleges  fully  answered  the  public  need  as 
regards  higher  education.  Every  one  of  them  was  the  col- 
lege of  a  faction,  of  a  section,  or  of  a  sect,  within  the 
commonwealth,  and  failed  therefore  to  be  a  college  of  the 
commonwealth  in  its  entirety.  The  democratic  spirit,  which 
had  been  rising,  very  slowly,  since  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  interest  in  civic  affairs,  which 
increased  rapidly  as  the  Revolution  drew  on,  both  tended  to 
accentuate  this  feeling  of  distrust.  It  was  much  more  pro- 
nounced in  the  case  of  some  colleges  than  in  that  of  others, 
but  none  of  them  seems  to  have  escaped  it  altogether. 

As  this  feeling  rose  to  self-consciousness,  there  appeared 
two  ways  in  which  it  might  find  adequate  expression ;  two 
ways  in  which  colleges  might  be  made  to  answer  the  com- 
mon need  in  this  matter  of  higher  education :  First,  the 
commonwealth  might,  through  the  agencies  of  government, 
assume  and  exercise  the  right  of  visitation  in  the  existing 
institutions,  or  even,  if  need  be,  compel  those  colleges  to 
submit  to  changes  in  their  charters  which  should  render 
them  more  serviceable  to  society  in  its  organic  wholeness 
and  unity ;  or  secondly,  it  might  ignore  the  existing  col- 
leges, regarding  their  case  as  hopeless,  and  proceed  to  erect 
new  institutions  so  organized  and  administered  as  to  meet 
the  highest  demands  of  public  responsibility.  The  legal 
status  of  educational  corporations  was  not  then  so  well 
defined  as  now  ;  and  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
with  its  provision  safeguarding  the  obligation  of  contracts, 
was  not  yet  in  existence.  So  it  is  not  strange  that  the 


THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC  CONTROL     281 

first  of  these  two  courses  seemed  much  more  practicable 
than  the  other.  We  shall  see  that  it  was  first  tried,  in  a 
very  thorough  manner ;  and  not  till  it  had  signally  failed, 
did  the  movement  for  the  establishment  of  state  universities 
acquire  any  sort  of  headway. 

The  question  of  public  control  is  to  be  kept  separate  from 
that  of  public  support.  Yet  the  two  are  intimately  con- 
nected. Institutions  of  learning  have  more  than  once  been 
led  to  accept  the  larger  responsibility,  through  the  difficulty 
of  maintenance  as  representatives  of  a  party  or  faction. 

Even  before  the  Revolution,  the  two  possible  courses  of 
procedure  had  both  been  distinctly  considered,  and  attempts 
had  been  made  to  carry  both  into  execution,  but  with  no 
sort  of  success  in  either  case.  These  colonial  projects  are 
worthy  of  consideration,  for  they  help  us  to  understand  the 
true  state  of  the  case  when  the  newly  liberated  states  began 
to  deal  with  this  problem. 

Efforts  were  made  at  different  times  to  secure  for  the  colo- 
nial governments  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Jersey,  or  for 
the  English  crown,  a  larger  participation  in  the  management 
of  Harvard  and  Princeton  Colleges.  But  the  most  notable 
attempt  in  colonial  times  to  subject  an  educational  close 
corporation  to  direct  governmental  control,  was  made  in 
Connecticut.  In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
Yale  College  was  under  the  headship  of  President  Clap,  a 
man  of  marked  ability,  but  personally  unpopular.  The 
conflict  between  the  "New  Lights  "  and  the  "  Old  Lights  " 
was  then  raging  in  Connecticut.  Yale  College  was  a  strong- 
hold of  the  earlier  orthodoxy,  though  it  gradually  drew 
nearer  to  the  New  Light  party.  It  seems,  under  President 
Clap's  leadership,  to  have  gained  to  a  large  extent  the  ill- 
will  of  both  sides  in  the  controversy.  Partly  in  consequence 
of  this  hostility,  the  annual  donations  to  the  college  from 
the  colonial  treasury  were  discontinued  after  1754.  It  is 
said  that  from  1758  to  1763,  "four  distinct  appeals  were 
made  to  the  legislature,  through  the  fellows,  the  graduates 
and  the  students  of  the  College,"  to  inquire  into  and  rectify 


282          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

abuses  in  the  management  of  the  institution.  One  act  of 
the  college  authorities  was  represented  as  being,  "an  in- 
fringement on  the  order  and  rights  of  the  regular  churches, 
.  .  .  and  a  daring  affront  to  legislative  power." l  Finally 
the  trouble  culminated  in  a  formidable  memorial,  presented 
to  the  legislature  in  1763. 

In  this  it  was  declared  that  the  general  assembly  was  the 
founder  of  the  college,  inasmuch  as  it  had  granted  the 
original  charter,  in  1701  ;  and  in  that  charter  had  bestowed 
a  grant  of  about  sixty  pounds  sterling,  besides  making  subse- 
quent donations  in  money  and  lands.  The  general  assembly 
sitting  in  the  year  1763,  it  was  asserted,  possessed  the  right 
of  visitation  under  the  common  law,  as  successor  to  the 
founder;  and  there  was  need  that  this  right  be  exercised  in 
the  then  present  emergency,  to  preserve  the  good  order  of 
the  college  in  several  respects,  and  particularly  as  regards 
orthodoxy  in  religion. 

President  Clap  himself  undertook  the  reply  to  this  memo- 
rial. He  declared  that  the  legislature  had  the  same  author- 
ity over  the  college  as  over  other  persons  and  estates  in  the 
colony ;  but  that  it  did  not  possess  the  right  of  visitation, 
because  the  act  of  incorporation  and  the  gift  of  public  funds 
which  accompanied  it  did  not  found  the  institution.  It 
had  existed  in  fact  before  it  possessed  a  charter,  and  dona- 
tions of  books,  money,  and  land  had  already  been  made  to 
it.  The  founders  were  those  ministers  who  had  made  a 
large  and  formal  donation  of  books  for  its  establishment. 
This  fact  was  acknowledged  in  the  act  of  1701,  which  recog- 
nized the  institution  as  already  founded,  and  merely  gave 
the  trustees  legal  authorization  to  proceed  with  the  erection 
of  the  school.  Besides,  the  preamble  of  the  charter  of  1745 
expressly  declared  that  the  first  trustees  had  founded  the 
school.  It  was  shown  that  it  would  be  detrimental  to  the 
orderly  management  of  the  college  if  some  body  of  visitors, 
other  than  the  trustees,  were  set  up,  to  whom  any  aggrieved 
person  might  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  ordinary  college 
1  CLEWS,  op.  cit.,  p.  159. 


THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC   CONTROL     283 

authorities.  And  as  regards  orthodoxy,  it  was  urged  that 
the  president  and  fellows  had  taken  better  precautions 
than  might  be  expected  continuously  from  any  other  body 
of  visitors  which  the  legislature  might  constitute.1 

This  reply  was  backed  up  with  ample  citations  from 
the  most  eminent  legal  authorities.  It  is  evident  that  it 
commanded  the  respect  of  thoughtful  men  in  the  colony,  as 
it  has  of  competent  jurists  of  later  times.  It  put  an  end  to 
the  efforts  to  secure  legislative  interference  in  the  affairs  of 
the  college.  And  it  may  be  added  that  substantially  the 
same  ground  as  that  taken  by  President  Clap  was  taken  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  Dartmouth 
College  case,  half  a  century  later. 

The  other  possible  way  to  public  control,  that  of  founding 
new  institutions  directly  responsible  to  the  government, 
was  clearly  set  forth  before  the  colonies  became  independent, 
and  a  strong  effort  was  made  to  have  this  plan  put  on  its 
trial.  It  happened  in  connection  with  the  founding  of 
King's  College,  in  New  York.  The  funds  first  secured  for 
the  establishment  of  this  institution  were  raised  under  the 
authority  of  the  colonial  legislature.  When  the  time  came 
to  begin  the  actual  organization  of  the  college,  it  was  pro- 
posed that  it  be  established  by  royal  charter.  The  corpora- 
tion of  Trinity  Church  offered  to  bestow  on  the  institution 
a  tract  of  land,  attaching  certain  ecclesiastical  conditions  to 
the  gift.  It  was  proposed  that  this  gift  be  accepted  and  the 
conditions  be  embodied  in  the  charter.  The  plan  aroused 
violent  opposition,  which  was  led  by  William  Livingston. 

This  gentleman  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  well- 
known  New  York  family  of  that  name,  the  proprietors  of 
the  Livingston  Manor.  He  had  been  educated  at  Yale 
College.  It  is  said  that,  a  few  years  previous  to  the  time 
we  are  considering,  there  were  in  the  whole  province  of  New 
York  only  ten  persons,  not  in  holy  orders,  who  had  received 

1  The  text  of  this  argument  has,  I  believe,  never  been  printed.  I  have 
followed  President  Clap's  own  summary  of  it  as  given  in  his  Annals  or  history 
of  Yale- College. 


284          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

a  collegiate  education ;  and  four  of  these  were  the  brothers 
Livingston.  William  Livingston  was  an  able  lawyer,  a 
moderate  Presbyterian,  an  uncompromising  patriot.  Like 
many  American  Presbyterians  of  his  time,  he  was  strenu- 
ously opposed  to  any  union  of  church  and  state.  He  be- 
came one  of  the  most  vigorous  opponents  of  the  movement 
for  the  establishment  of  an  American  episcopate.  His 
aristocratic  antecedents  did  not  prevent  him  from  develop- 
ing at  an  early  period  a  strongly  democratic  spirit.  He 
removed  to  New  Jersey,  and  when  that  colony  became  a 
state,  he  was  elected  its  first  governor  under  the  new  order 
of  things.  By  repeated  election  he  was  continued  in  this 
office  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1790. 

I  have  spoken  thus  particularly  of  Governor  Livingston 
for  the  reason  that  the  earliest  distinct  American  utter- 
ance in  favor  of  state  control  of  the  higher  education  which 
I  have  been  able  to  find,  appears  in  some  of  his  writings. 
At  the  time  when  the  first  steps  were  taken  toward  secur- 
ing a  royal  charter  for  King's  College,  Mr.  Livingston  was 
editing  The  Independent  Reflector  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
This  was  a  four-page  folio,  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  vari- 
ous questions  of  public  interest.  It  served  as  a  sort  of  period- 
ical pamphlet,  such  as  the  eighteenth  century  abounded  in. 
The  greater  part  of  the  weekly  issue  of  this  sheet  seems 
to  have  been  written  by  Livingston  himself,  though  some 
articles  were  undoubtedly  contributed  by  various  members 
of  his  coterie.  The  paper  continued  for  only  fifty -two  num- 
bers, in  1752-53.  It  treated  of  many  topics,  but  is  especially 
noteworthy  because  of  what  it  had  to  say  on  the  subject  of 
the  new  college. 

This  topic  was  first  taken  up  in  the  seventeenth  number 
of  the  paper.  "  The  true  Use  of  Education,"  says  the  writer, 
"is  to  qualify  Men  for  the  different  Employments  of  Life,  to 
which  it  may  please  God  to  call  them.  'Tis  to  improve 
their  Hearts  and  Understandings,  to  infuse  a  public  Spirit 
and  Love  of  their  Country ;  to  inspire  them  with  the  Princi- 
ples of  Honor  and  Probity ;  with  a  fervent  Zeal  for  Liberty, 


THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC   CONTROL     285 

and  a  diffusive  Benevolence  for  Mankind ;  and  in  a  Word, 
to  make  them  more  extensively  serviceable  to  the  Common- 
Wealth." 

He  insists  that  the  kind  of  education  that  is  given  will 
inevitably  affect  the  common  weal :  that  no  sort  of  higher 
education  can  possibly  be  a  merely  private  concern.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  his  argument.  Again 
and  again,  in  later  issues,  he  comes  back  to  this  central 
thought,  and  hammers  it  in  with  all  his  might. 

In  the  eighteenth  number,  he  proceeds  "  to  offer  a  few 
Arguments,  ...  to  evince  the  Necessity  and  Importance  of 
constituting  our  College  upon  a  Basis  the  most  catholic, 
generous  and  free."  "The  extensive  Influence  of  such  a 
Seminary,"  he  says,  "  I  have  already  shewn  in  my  last  Paper. 
And  have  we  not  reason  to  fear  the  worst  Effects  of  it,  where 
none  but  the  Principles  of  one  Persuasion  are  taught,  and  all 
others  depressed  and  discountenanced  ?  "  Such  an  institu- 
tion he  calls  a  "  Party-College."  A  college  erected  in  the 
interest  of  any  party  is  a  menace  to  public  interests,  and 
most  of  all  a  college  erected  in  the  interest  of  any  ecclesias- 
tical body. 

In  the  nineteenth  number,  he  continues  the  discussion  of 
the  dangers  attendant  upon  the  incorporation  of  the  college 
by  royal  charter.  In  the  twentieth  he  proposes  his  alterna- 
tive for  this  procedure.  "  I  would  first  establish  it  as  a 
Truth,"  says  Mr.  Livingston,  "that  Societies  have  an  indis- 
putable Eight  to  direct  the  Education  of  their  youthful 
Members."  This  sounds  strangely  like  an  utterance  of  La 
Chalotais  in  the  Essai  d'education  nationale,  ten  years  later 
than  this.  But  the  idea  was  already  abroad  in  France ; 
and  it  is  possible  that  Mr.  Livingston,  who  read  French, 
may  have  been  familiar  with  the  advanced  French  thought 
of  the  time  upon  this  subject.  He  continues,  "  If  ...  it 
belongs  to  any  to  inspect  the  Education  of  Youth,  it  is  the 
proper  Business  of  the  Public,  with  whose  Happiness  their 
future  Conduct  in  Life  is  inseparably  connected,  and  by  whose 
Laws  their  relative  Actions  will  be  governed.  .  .  .  Let  it  [the 


286          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

college]  not  be  made  the  Portion  of  a  Party,  or  private  Set  of 
Men,  but  let  it  merit  the  Protection  of  the  Public."  Those 
who  ask  to  be  given  direction  of  the  higher  education  of  the 
commonwealth,  he  adds,  "ask  no  less  considerable  a  Boon, 
than  absolute  universal  Dominion." 

"  Instead  of  a  Charter,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  I  would  pro- 
pose, that  the  College  be  founded  and  incorporated  by  Act 
of  Assembly,  and  that  not  only  because  it  ought  to  be  under 
the  Inspection  of  the  civil  Authority ;  but  also,  because  such 
a  Constitution  will  be  more  permanent,  better  endowed,  less 
liable  to  Abuse,  and  more  capable  of  answering  its  true  End." 
The  twenty-first  number  of  the  Independent  Reflector  is 
perhaps  the  most  important  of  all,  for  in  this  a  complete 
plan  for  the  organization  of  a  college  under  public  control 
is  offered  in  outline.  In  the  interest  of  brevity,  only  por- 
tions of  two  or  three  of  the  eleven  sections  under  which 
this  plan  is  presented,  will  be  considered  here. 

It  is  proposed : 

"  FIRST  :  That  all  the  Trustees  be  nominated,  appointed,  and 
incorporated  by  the  Act  [of  Assembly],  and  that  whenever  an  Avoid- 
ance among  them  shall  happen,  the  same  be  reported  by  the  Cor- 
poration to  the  next  Sessions  of  Assembly,  and  such  Vacancy  be 
supplied  by  Legislative  Act.  That  they  hold  their  Offices  only  at 
the  good  Pleasure  of  the  Governor,  Council  and  General  Assembly. 
And  that  no  Person  of  any  Protestant  Denomination  be,  on  Account 
of  his  religious  Persuasion,  disqualified  for  sustaining  any  Office  in 
the  College." 

"THE  FIFTH  Article  I  propose  is,  that  no  religious  Profession 
in  particular  be  established  in  the  College ;  .  .  . 

"  To  this  most  important  Head,  I  should  think  proper  to  subjoin, 

"  SIXTHLY  :  That  the  whole  College  be  every  Morning  and 
Evening  convened  to  attend  public  Prayers,  to  he  performed  by  the 
President,  or  in  his  Absence,  by  either  of  the  Fellows  ;  and  that  such 
Forms  be  prescribed  and  adhered  to  as  all  Protestants  can  freely 
join  in." 

We  see  that  this  radical  innovator  did  not  go  so  far  in  the 
way  of  a  separation  between  education  and  religion,  as  cur- 


THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC  CONTROL     287 

rent  practice  had  gone  long  before  the  close  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  But  his  early  advocacy  of  non-sectarian 
religious  instruction  for  an  educational  institution  is  worthy 
of  remembrance.  By  way  of  illustration,  he  even  devoted 
one  number  of  his  paper  to  a  form  of  prayer  which  he  had 
devised  for  this  purpose,  composed  almost  wholly  of  pas- 
sages from  the  Bible. 

This  remarkable  series  of  papers  culminated,  in  the 
twenty-second  number,  in  an  impassioned  and  declamatory 
appeal  to  the  colonists  to  prevent  the  advocates  of  the 
charter  college  from  accomplishing  their  purpose.  By  this 
time  a  great  war  of  disputation  had  been  stirred  up.  The 
taverns,  the  coffee-houses,  and  the  newspapers,  were  alive 
with  the  subject.  The  objectors  were  unsuccessful  in  the 
attempt  to  prevent  the  issuance  of  the  charter.  But  after 
the  college  had  been  incorporated,  they  brought  in  a  bill 
in  the  legislature,  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a 
rival  institution,  on  the  lines  proposed  in  the  Independent 
Reflector.  But  little  is  known  of  the  fortunes  of  this  bill ; 
but  the  upshot  of  the  whole  affair  was  a  compromise,  under 
which  only  half  of  the  money  which  had  been  raised  by  lot- 
teries for  a  college  went  to  the  chartered  institution,  the 
remainder  being  used  to  build  a  pest  house  and  a  jail.  Mr. 
Livingston  raised  his  voice  in  jubilation  over  this  result. 

So  the  two  obvious  methods  of  making  the  higher  educa- 
tion a  truly  public  education,  had  both  been  seriously  pro- 
posed before  the  Eevolution,  but  neither  one  of  the  two  had 
as  yet  been  fairly  tried.  Independence  brought  with  it 
momentous  changes,  which  were  to  have  great  influence  in 
the  shaping  of  our  educational  systems.  When  the  war 
was  over,  the  new  states  found  themselves  in  possession  of 
a  great  national  domain  in  the  new  northwest.  Historians 
have  shown  what  a  mighty  influence  this  territory  exercised 
in  awakening  the  sense  of  nationality,  and  how  important 
were  its  later  bearings  upon  our  political  development.  Its 
effects  upon  our  educational  development  were  hardly  less 
marked.  Here  was  a  clear  field  for  educational  experiment. 


288          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOL'S 

Here  were  lands  that  could  be  set  apart  for  educational  pur- 
poses —  an  arrangement  which  tended  to  encourage  the  best 
sort  of  immigration.  It  is  hardly  surprising  that  under 
these  circumstances  the  northwest  became  a  favorite  field 
for  the  building  up  of  early  state  universities. 

We  are  now  concerned,  however,  with  those  uncertain  and 
painful  efforts,  in  the  states  along  the  Atlantic,  to  make  over 
the  existing  colleges  into  some  sort  of  institution  which 
should  answer  to  the  rising  educational  consciousness  of  our 
people.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  generally  known  how  many 
attempts  were  made  in  the  legislatures  of  the  new-born 
states  to  render  the  old  colleges  more  directly  responsible 
and  rninistrant  to  the  whole  commonwealth.  Nine  colleges 
had  been  incorporated  and  had  entered  upon  a  course  of 
college  instruction  within  the  colonial  period.  Of  these,  at 
least  six  were  more  or  less  directly  affected  by  this  move- 
ment. 

The  charter  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia  was  revoked 
in  1779,  and  in  its  place  was  set  up  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, under  public  control.  Ten  years  later,  the  older 
corporation  was  revived,  and  the  two  institutions  existed  in 
some  fashion  for  two  years,  side  by  side.  Then  a  com- 
promise was  reached,  the  two  were  merged  into  one  under 
the  title  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  this  was 
placed  under  the  control  of  a  close  corporation. 

Yale  College,  after  a  long  contest,  yielded  to  public  opinion, 
reinforced  by  its  extreme  need  of  financial  aid.  In  1792, 
eight  of  the  chief  officers  of  state  were  admitted,  ex  officio,  to 
membership  in  its  board  of  trustees ;  and  a  considerable 
grant  was  then  received  from  the  state  legislature. 

King's  College,  in  New  York,  was  greatly  in  disfavor 
while  the  Revolution  was  in  progress,  and  its  Tory  president, 
Dr.  Cooper,  was  obliged  to  flee  for  his  life.  It  has  been 
shown  that,  after  the  war  was  over,  a  general  state  system 
of  education  was  legislated  into  existence,  with  the  college, 
now  called  Columbia,  at  its  head.  But  serious  difficulties 
were  met  with  in  the  attempt  to  make  the  managing  board 


THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC   CONTROL     289 

of  the  college  identical  with  the  managing  board  of  a  state 
system  of  schools.  Here  again  a  compromise  was  reached, 
in  1787,  under  which  public  control  was  retained  in  the 
supervisory  body,  but  the  management  of  the  college  was 
committed  to  a  self -perpetuating  board  of  trustees. 

Harvard  College  was  disturbed  in  1812  by  legislation 
affecting  its  Board  of  Overseers,  which  was  forced  upon  the 
institution  without  regard  to  the  protest  of  the  Corporation. 
Two  years  later,  however,  the  obnoxious  act  was  repealed. 

But  the  most  notable  case  of  this  sort,  the  case  in  which 
the  movement  reached  its  culmination  and  also  its  judicial 
determination,  arose  in  connection  with  Dartmouth  College, 
in  the  second  decade  of  the  century.  In  consequence  of  a 
long-drawn  college  controversy,  in  which  the  political  parties 
within  the  state  were  ranged  on  opposite  sides,  the  legislature 
of  New  Hampshire  passed  an  act,  June  27,  1816,  declaring 
that  "the  college  of  the  state  may,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
legislature,  be  rendered  more  extensively  useful,"  and  enact- 
ing accordingly  "  that  the  corporation,  heretofore  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  College, 
shall  ever  hereafter  be  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Trustees  of  Dartmouth  University."  This  university  was 
to  be  managed  by  a  self-perpetuating  board  of  trustees,  over 
which  there  was  placed  a  board  of  overseers  consisting  of 
certain  civil  officers  ex  officio,  and  other  members  appointed 
by  the  governor,  and  possessing  full  visitatorial  rights,  and 
power  of  veto  on  the  acts  of  the  trustees. 

The  board  of  trustees  of  the  college  maintained  that  the 
legislature  had  no  power  of  interference  in  their  affairs,  and 
carried  the  matter  into  the  courts.  The  supreme  court  of 
the  state  of  New  Hampshire  decided  against  the  college. 
The  case  was  then  carried  into  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States.  Daniel  Webster  was  of  the  counsel  for  the 
college,  and  his  argument  in  this  case  added  greatly  to  his 
fame  as  a  constitutional  lawyer.  The  opinion  of  the  court 
was  pronounced  in  February,  1819,  by  Chief  Justice  Mar- 
shall. The  finding  of  the  New  Hampshire  court  was  re- 


290          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

versed.     The   decision   was   summarized   in   the   following 
terms : 

"  The  charter  granted  by  the  British  crown  to  the  trustees  of 
Dartmouth  College,  in  New  Hampshire,  in  the  year  1769,  is  a  con- 
tract within  the  meaning  of  that  clause  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  (Art.  1,  s.  10)  which  declares  that  no  state  shall 
make  any  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts.  The  charter 
was  not  dissolved  by  the  Revolution. 

"  An  act  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  altering  the  charter 
without  the  consent  of  the  corporation  in  a  material  respect  is  an 
act  impairing  the  obligation  of  the  charter,  and  is  unconstitutional 
and  void. 

"  Under  its  charter  Dartmouth  College  was  a  private  and  not  a 
public  corporation.  That  a  corporation  is  established  for  purposes 
of  general  charity,  or  for  education  generally,  does  not,  per  se,  make 
it  a  public  corporation,  liable  to  the  control  of  the  legislature."  : 

It  would  be  hard  to  overestimate  the  significance  of  this 
decision.  Chancellor  Kent  said  of  it  that  it  "  did  more  than 
any  other  single  act  proceeding  from  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  to  throw  an  impregnable  barrier  around  all 
rights  and  franchises  derived  from  the  grant  cf  government, 
and  to  give  solidity  and  inviolability  to  the  literary,  charit- 
able, religious,  and  commercial  institutions  of  our  country." 

It  was,  perhaps,  an  unmixed  advantage  to  commercial 
establishments  to  have  it  settled  once  for  all  that  a  self- 
perpetuating,  chartered  institution  is  a  private  and  not  a 
public  corporation,  and  so  beyond  the  reach  of  governmental 
interference ;  but  when  it  came  to  educational  establish- 
ments, this  decision  cut  both  ways.  The  conviction  to 
which  William  Livingston  had  given  utterance  many  years 
before  —  that  an  institution  of  higher  education  could  not 
possibly  be  a  private  concern  as  regards  its  operation  and 
influence  —  had  come  abroad  and  gained  general  currency. 
That  an  institution  which  embodied  so  momentous  a  public 
interest  should  be  beyond  the  reach  of  public  control 

1  The  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  College  v.  Woodward,  4  Wheaton  514. 


THE  MOVEMENT   TOWARD  PUBLIC   CONTROL     291 

seemed  to  many  a  dangerous  state  of  affairs.  The  decision 
in  the  Dartmouth  College  case  put  an  end  to  efforts  directed 
toward  governmental  regulation  of  educational  close  cor- 
porations ;  but  in  so  doing  it  turned  the  full  force  of  this 
movement  into  that  other  possible  course  of  governmental 
agency  —  namely,  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
colleges  and  universities  under  full  state  control. 

An  institution  not  under  public  control  may  be  very 
susceptible  to  public  influences  ;  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
find  such  an  institution  so  comfortably  endowed,  so  irre- 
sponsible in  spirit,  and  so  firmly  fixed  in  its  own  traditions, 
as  to  be  wholly  beyond  the  reach  of  public  opinion.  Our 
early  colleges  felt  the  movements  going  on  about  them,  to 
which,  in  truth,  they  had  largely  contributed  ;  and  little  by 
little  they  introduced  changes  which  brought  them  nearer 
to  the  people  whom  they  served.  In  this  way,  the  most  of 
them  warded  off  the  danger  which  threatened  them,  of  rival 
establishments  founded  and  managed  by  the  state.  They 
widened  their  range  of  studies ;  and  they  ceased  to  be  in 
any  special  sense  schools  for  the  training  of  ministers, 
becoming  instead  general  institutions  of  the  higher  learning. 

But  the  demand  for  universities  under  state  control  was 
more  profound  and  far-reaching  than  was  commonly  sup- 
posed. We  have  seen  that  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  Columbia  and  Dartmouth  Colleges,  had  each  its  brief 
term  of  service  as  a  regular  state  institution.  Other  state 
universities  soon  began  to  take  permanent  shape.  The 
movement  was  nearly  simultaneous  in  the  west  and  south. 
The  influence  of  the  south  was  dominant  in  the  earlier  days 
and  that  of  the  west  at  a  later  period. 

North  Carolina,  following  Pennsylvania,  included  in  its 
state  constitution  of  1776  the  provision  that,  "All  useful 
learning  shall  be  duly  encouraged  and  promoted  in  one  or 
more  universities."  In  accordance  with  this  provision,  the 
state  legislature  erected  a  university  in  1789,  which  began 
giving  instruction  in  1795.  This  institution,  however,  did 
not  come  under  direct  state  control  till  1821.  South  Caro- 


292          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

liiia  College,  an  institution  under  full  state  control,  was 
established  by  legislative  act  in  1801,  and  opened  in  1805. 
The  long  and  varied  efforts  of  Thomas  Jefferson  to  secure 
the  establishment  of  a  university  under  public  control  in 
the  Old  Dominion,  were  crowned  with  success  in  1819,  the 
year  in  which  the  decision  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case 
was  handed  down  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  This  was  an  event  of  capital  importance.  Eepeated 
efforts  had  been  made  to  transform  William  and  Mary 
College  into  an  institution  which  might  fairly  serve  as  the 
crowning  member  of  a  state  system  of  education.  But  this 
was  found  at  last  to  be  impracticable,  chiefly  because  of  the 
fixed  ecclesiastical  character  of  the  old  foundation. 

The  fact  that  the  University  of  Virginia  held  the  chief 
place  in  a  well-thought-out  plan  of  education,  which  was 
vitally  connected  with  a  democratic  scheme  of  society,  and 
the  further  fact  that  it  was  the  cherished  project  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  compelled  the  serious  attention  of  the  builders  of 
new  commonwealths.  And  the  intrinsic  character  of  the 
new  institution  was  such  that  its  establishment  marked  an 
epoch  in  our  educational  development. 

Important  beginnings  were  making  meanwhile  in  the 
new  states  of  the  Old  Northwest,  which  culminated  in  the 
establishment  of  a  strong  state  university  in  Michigan.1 
Favorable  circumstances  affecting  its  external  administra- 
tion, combined  with  excellences  of  internal  management  and 
instruction,  gave  to  this  institution  a  position  of  leadership 
among  our  state  universities  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  states  that  were  coming  into 
being  all  through  the  century,  with  few  exceptions,  estab- 
lished such  universities.  Their  erection  soon  came  to  be 
a  matter  of  course  in  the  new  western  commonwealths, 
the  beginnings  sometimes  being  made  before  the  territorial 
status  was  outgrown. 

We  may  note  by  the  way  how  differently  the  Dartmouth 
College  case  has  affected  the  history  of  our  commercial  and 

1  Some  of  these  beginnings  are  noted  in  chapter  X. 


THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC   CONTROL     293 

industrial  corporations.  Since  that  decision  was  reached, 
the  granting  of  governmental  subsidies  to  privately  man- 
aged educational  institutions  has  fallen  more  and  more  into 
disfavor,  as  has  been  shown,  and  the  movement  toward 
public  control  of  such  institutions  has  gained  a  tremendous 
volume  and  headway.  But,  curiously  enough,  the  relation 
of  government  to  industry  and  commerce  has  not  followed 
a  parallel  course.  Our  transportation,  in  particular,  a  public 
service  of  incalculable  importance,  has  remained  under  the 
control  of  private  corporations,  and  these  have  received 
municipal  and  legislative  grants  of  enormous  value.  It 
may  be,  however,  that  the  movement  toward  public  control 
of  such  corporations  has  only  lagged  behind  that  affecting 
educational  institutions.  The  current  agitation  in  favor  of 
"  public  ownership  of  public  utilities  "  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate something  of  this  sort.  But  at  the  present  time  the 
relation  of  government  to  transportation  in  this  country 
is  broadly  analogous  to  the  relation  of  government  to  the 
institutions  of  education  a  century  ago. 

Even  as  regards  educational  institutions,  the  movement 
has  been  very  slow  and  unequal,  and  the  earlier  policy  has 
been  only  partially  reversed.  In  the  case  of  our  colleges, 
the  demand  for  public  control  was  doubtless  accentuated 
by  ecclesiastical  considerations;  or  more  exactly  by  the 
rapid  spread  of  the  doctrine  of  religious  freedom.  Through- 
out the  earlier  part  of  this  movement,  the  academies  escaped 
the  criticism  which  the  colleges  had  to  encounter.  Their 
form  of  organization  was,  in  fact,  much  the  same  as  that  of 
the  colleges.  But  it  was  not  so  much  a  form  of  organization 
which  was  under  criticism,  at  the  first,  as  it  was  specific 
defects  and  abuses  in  the  colleges.  In  these  particulars,  the 
academies  were  contrasted  with  the  colleges,  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  lower  institutions.  The  academies  were  in 
high  favor  at  the  very  time  that  the  colleges  were  under 

fire 

But  some  had  held  from  the  beginning  that  the  great 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  an  immediate  righting  of  the  abuses 


294          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

complained  of  was  the  private  and  inaccessible  character  of 
the  college  corporations.  The  Dartmouth  College  case  deep- 
ened this  conviction,  and  adverse  criticism  soon  extended  to 
the  similar  corporations  of  the  academies.  The  demand  for 
public  education  under  public  control  was  a  rising  tide  and 
in  time  it  affected  institutions  of  every  rank  and  grade.  It 
was  on  this  rising  tide  that  new  systems  of  elementary  edu- 
cation came  into  being,  and  with  them,  borne  on  the  same 
sweep  of  public  opinion,  came  a  new  type  of  secondary 
school  —  the  public  high  school. 

Up  to  the  nineteenth  century,  elementary  education  had 
been  even  more  fragmentary  and  inadequate  in  this  country 
than  education  of  a  higher  grade.  There  was,  however, 
nothing  unique  in  this  state  of  affairs.  Effective  systems  of 
elementary  instruction  in  Europe  are  largely  the  growth  of 
the  past  hundred  years.  In  England  the  nineteenth  century 
movement  was  got  under  way  through  the  agency  of  volun- 
tary societies  organized  for  the  conduct  and  maintenance  of 
schools ;  for  thirty  years,  in  the  second,  .and  third  quarters 
of  the  century,  these  societies  were  doing  the  work  of  ele- 
mentary education  in  England  with  the  aid  of  government 
subsidies  ;  and  this  arrangement  still  continues,  in  full  force, 
only  supplemented  during  the  past  generation  with  schools 
under  public  control,  which  are  designed  merely  to  fill  gaps 
in  the  facilities  provided  under  the  earlier  system. 

The  English  societies  were  an  outcome  of  the  monitorial 
movement,  as  promoted  by  Joseph  Lancaster  and  Dr.  Bell. 
The  same  influence  was  felt  at  an  early  day  in  this  country, 
and  similar  societies  were  organized  here  for  the  building  up 
of  schools.  The  Free  School  Society,  organized  at  New 
York  in  1805,  took  up  and  extended  an  educational  cam- 
paign which  had  been  begun  by  other  societies  similarly 
constituted.  It  was  incorporated  and  subsidized  by  the 
New  York  legislature.  In  1826  the  name  was  changed  to 
the  Public  School  Society ;  and  under  this  title  the  organi- 
zation continued  to  direct  and  control  the  greater  part  of 
the  elementary  education  of  this  large  arid  growing  city, 


THE  MOVEMENT  TOWARD  PUBLIC   CONTROL     295 

till  religious  controversy  led  to  the  transfer  of  the  schools 
to  a  public  board  of  education,  in  1842.1 

Other  cities  had  somewhat  similar  societies,  which  sus- 
tained various  relations  to  popular  education.  In  Boston, 
the  system  of  schools,  as  remodelled  in  1789,  included  writing 
schools,  English  grammar  schools,  and  the  Latin  school ;  but 
there  was  no  public  provision  for  primary  schools,  in  which 
little  children  might  make  their  earliest  scholastic  beginnings. 
Schools  of  this  lowest  grade  were  in  existence,  but  all  under 
private  management.  This  condition  remained  unchanged 
till  the  year  1818,  when  for  the  first  time  primary  schools 
were  made  a  part  of  the  Boston  public  school  system.2 

The  gradual  building  up  of  public  systems  of  elementary 
schools  tended  directly  to  the  bringing  in  of  high  schools ; 
for  there  came  to  be  a  large  number  of  children,  not  intended 
for  college  and  for  professional  life,  who  nevertheless  had 
gone  through  a  course  of  elementary  schooling  in  public 
schools  and  were  ready  to  go  further  if  the  opportunity  were 
offered.  The  gradual  increase  of  wealth  in  our  larger  towns 
and  cities  tended  to  the  increase  of  such  a  class  as  this.  The 
common  people  of  these  towns  and  cities  were  becoming 
desirous  of  more  extended  education ;  and  the  commercial 
activities  of  these  centres  called  for  a  different  kind  of  train- 
ing from  that  offered  by  the  schools  designed  to  prepare  for 
college. 

The  academies  were  ready  to  respond  to  this  demand,  but 
another  objection  to  the  academies  appeared.  The  public 
schools  had  been  gradually  made  free  schools,  the  rate-bills 
for  tuition  having  been  little  by  little  discontinued.  The 
academies  generally  charged  small  tuition  fees,  and  but  few 
of  them  were  largely  enough  endowed  to  get  on  well  with- 
out such  charges.3  We  begin  now  to  find  a  demand  growing 

1  BOESE,  Public  education  in  the  city  of  New  York.     BOURNE,  History  of 
the  Public  School  Society. 

2  WIGHTMAN,  Annals  of  the  Boston  primary  school  committee,  passim. 

8  The  effort  had  been  made  to  offer  free  instruction  in  some  of  the  earlier 
academies.  At  Phillips  Exeter,  the  first  tuition  fee,  of  only  two  dollars  a  year, 
was  imposed  in  1809.  CUNNINGHAM,  op.  cit.,  p.  79. 


296          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

up  for  schools  higher  in  grade  than  the  elementary  schools, 
which  should  be  as  accessible  to  the  poor  as  to  the  rich. 
The  public  schools  were  now  regarded  as  the  schools  of  the 
people,  in  contrast  with  the  academies  which  were  repre- 
sented as  schools  for  the  few  who  were  able  to  pay. 

So  the  movement  toward  the  public  control  of  institutions 
of  learning  was  mixed  in  with  the  various  other  movements 
which  were  making  in  this  country  a  prosperous  and  aggres- 
sive democracy ;  and  new  institutions  not  a  few  were  coming 
out  of  it  all.  Not  the  least  significant  of  these  was  the 
public  high  school. 

NOTE. 

The  charters  of  the  colonial  colleges  are  given  in  Miss  CLEWS'  valuable 
compilation.  Files  of  the  Independent  Reflector  are  not  commonly  found, 
even  in  the  best  libraries.  There  is  one  in  the  Lenox  Library,  and,  an- 
other, nearly  complete,  in  the  State  Library  of  New  York,  which  I  have 
used  in  preparing  this  chapter. 

On  the  Dartmouth  College  case,  see 

SHIRLEY,  JOHN  M.,  The  Dartmouth  College  causes  and  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  St.  Louis:  G.  I.  Jones  and  Company,  1879, 
pp.  469. 


CHAPTER   XIV 
THE   FIRST   HIGH  SCHOOLS 

THE  English  High  School  of  Boston  is  regarded  as  the  pio- 
neer of  the  high  school  movement  in  this  country.  In  1818 
Boston  had  extended  its  public  school  system  downward  to 
include  the  primary  schools.  In  1820  steps  were  taken 
looking  to  an  extension  of  the  system  upward,  in  an  institu- 
tion planned  to  meet  the  needs  of  those  advanced  pupils 
who  were  not  destined  for  the  classical  course  of  the  Latin 
School.  On  the  forty -fifth  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill,  the  school  committee  having  under  consideration 
the  question  of  appointments  and  salaries  in  the  Latin 
School  for  the  ensuing  year,  Mr.  S.  A.  Wells  introduced  a 
number  of  resolutions  relating,  in  part,  to  the  establishment 
of  an  "  English  Classical  School."  1  This  part  of  the  resolu- 
tions was  referred  to  a  sub-committee,  which  reported  Octo- 
ber 26  of  the  same  year.  On  that  date  the  school  committee 
voted  "  that  it  is  expedient  to  establish  an  English  Classical 
School  in  the  Town  of  Boston."  At  a  subsequent  meeting 
the  selectmen  of  the  town  were  requested  to  call  a  town 
meeting  for  the  consideration  of  the  sub-committee's  report 
as  amended  by  the  school  committee.  A  town  meeting  was 
accordingly  held  January  15,  1821,  at  which  the  plan  out- 
lined in  the  report  was  debated,  and  finally  adopted  with 
only  three  dissenting  votes. 

1  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  George  H.  Martin,  Supervisor  of  Public  Schools, 
Boston,  and  author  of  The  evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  public  school  system, 
for  the  opportunity  of  using  the  MS.  records  of  the  Boston  school  committee 
in  preparing  this  account. 


298          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  Boston  Advertiser1  of  January  13, 1821,  had  sounded 
a  note  of  caution.  "A  town  meeting,"  it  said,  "is  to  be 
holden  on  Monday  next,  to  act,  among  other  things,  on  the 
proposition  for  establishing  what  is  called  an  English  Classi- 
cal School.  We  trust  that  a  measure  of  this  sort  wTll  not  be 
adopted  without  due  consideration.  It  ought  to  be  consid- 
ered what  will  be  the  effect  of  it  on  the  existing  English 
Grammar  Schools,  and  also  on  the  Latin  Grammar  School. 
Will  not  its  effect  be  to  degrade  the  former  institutions, 
by  transferring  the  more  liberal  studies  now  pursued  in 
them,  and  for  which  they  are,  or  ought  to  be,  fully  compe- 
tent, to  a  single  school  more  favored  by  the  public  ?  And 
is  it  not  the  intention  of  some  of  the  friends  of  the  new 
school  to  withdraw  a  portion  of  the  patronage  which  is  now 
bestowed  on  the  Latin  School  ? "  But  the  nearly  unanimous 
vote  to  establish  the  school  seems  to  show  that  the  consid- 
eration of  these  doubts  resulted  in  putting  them  aside. 

The  same  town  meeting  passed  a  second  vote, "  That  the 
School  Committee  from  year  to  year  be/ and  hereby  -are, 
instructed  to  revise  the  course  of  studies  proposed  in  the 
report  this  day  made  and  accepted  for  the  nfijat-  school,  and 
adopt  such  measures  as  experience  shall  (Jictate,  and  the 
object  of  its  establishment  require." 

The  sub-committee's  report,  presumably  as  amended  and 
presented  to  the  town  meeting,  stands  as  follows  on  the 
records  of  the  school  committee  : 


"KEPORT. 

"  Though  the  present  system  of  public  education,  and  the  munifi- 
cence with  which  it  is  supported,  are  highly  beneficial  and  honor- 
able to  the  Town  ;  yet  in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  it  is 
susceptible  of  a  greater  degree  of  perfection  and  usefulness,  without 
materially  augmenting  the  weight  of  the  public  burdens.  Till  re- 
cently, our  system  occupied  a  middle  station  :  it  neither  commenced 

1  Then  edited  by  Nathan  Hale,  the  father  of  Edward  Everett  Hale. 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  299 

with  the  rudiments  of  Education,  nor  extended  to  the  higher 
branches  of  knowledge.  This  system  was  supported  by  the  Town 
at  a  very  great  expense,  and  to  be  admitted  to  its  advantages, 
certain  preliminary  qualifications  were  required  at  individual  cost, 
which  have  the  effect  of  excluding  many  children  of  the  poor  and 
unfortunate  classes  of  the  community  from  the  benefits  of  a  public 
education.  The  Town  saw  and  felt  this  inconsistency  in  the  plan, 
and  have  removed  the  defect  by  providing  Schools  in  which  the 
children  of  the  poor  can  be  fitted  for  admission  into  the  public 
seminaries. 

"  The  present  system,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  requires 
still  farther  amendment.  The  studies  that  are  pursued  at  the  Eng-. 
lish  grammar  schools  are  merely  elementary,  and  more  time  than  is 
necessary  is  devoted  to  their  acquisition.  A  scholar  is  admitted  at 
seven,  and  is  dismissed  at  fourteen  years  of  age ;  thus,  seven  years 
are  expended  in  the  acquisition  of  a  degree  of  knowledge,  which 
with  ordinary  diligence  and  a  common  capacity,  may  be  easily  and 
perfectly  acquired  in  five.  If  then,  a  boy  remain  the  usual  term,  a 
large  portion  of  the  time  will  have  been  idly  or  uselessly  expended, 
as  he  may  have  learned  all  that  he  may  have  been  taught  long 
before  its  expiration.  This  loss  of  time  occurs  at  that  interesting 
and  critical  period  of  life,  when  the  habits  and  inclinations  are 
forming  by  which  the  future  character  will  be  fixed  and  determined. 
This  evil,  therefore,  should  be  removed,  by  enlarging  the  present 
system,  not  merely  that  the  time  now  lost  may  be  saved,  but  that 
those  early  habits  of  industry  and  application  may  be  acquired, 
which  are  so  essential  in  leading  to  a  future  life  of  virtue  and 
usefulness. 

"  Nor  are  these  the  only  existing  evils.  The  mode  of  education 
now  adopted,  and  the  branches  of  knowledge  that  are  taught  at  our 
English  grammar  schools,  are  not  sufficiently  extensive  nor  other- 
wise calculated  to  bring  the  powers  of  the  mind  into  operation  nor 
to  qualify  a  youth  to  fill  usefully  and  respectably  many  of  those 
stations,  both  public  and  private,  in  which  he  may  be  placed.  A 
parent  who  wishes  to  give  a  child  an  education  that  shall  fit  him 
for  active  life,  and  shall  serve  as  a  foundation  for  eminence  in  hia 
profession,  whether  Mercantile  or  Mechanical,  is  under  the  necessity 
of  giving  him  a  different  education  from  any  which  our  public 
schools  can  now  furnish.  Hence,  many  children  are  separated 


300          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

from  their  parents  and  sent  to  private  academies  in  this  vicinity, 
to  acquire  that  instruction  which  cannot  be  obtained  at  the  public 
seminaries.  Thus,  many  parents,  who  contribute  largely  to  the 
support  of  these  institutions,  are  subjected  to  heavy  expense  for  the 
same  object,  in  other  towns. 

"  The  Committee,  for  these  and  many  other  weighty  considera- 
tions that  might  be  offered,  and  in  order  to  render  the  present  sys- 
tem of  public  education  more  nearly  perfect,  are  of  the  opinion  that 
an  additional  School  is  required.  They  therefore,  recommend  the 
founding  of  a  seminary  which  shall  be  called  the  Polish  Classical 
School,  and  submit  the  following  as  a  general  outline  of  a  plan  for 
its  organization  and  of  the  course  of  studies  to  be  pursued. 

"  1st.  That  the  term  of  time  for  pursuing  the  course  of  studies 
proposed,  be  three  years.  f 

li%ndly.  That  the  School  be  divided  into  three  classes,  and  one 
year  be  assigned  to  the  studies  of  each  class. 

"  Srdly.    That  the  age  of  admission  be  not  less  than  twelve  years. 

"  Jfihly.    That  the  School  be  for  Boys  exclusively. 

"  Sthly.  That  candidates  for  admission  be  proposed  on  a  given 
day  annually  ;  but  scholars  with  suitable  qualifications  may  be 
admitted  at  any  intermediate  time  to  an  advanced  standing. 

"  6thly.  That  candidates  for  admission  shall  be  subject  to  a  strict 
examination,  in  such  manner  as  the  School  Committee  may  direct, 
to  ascertain  their  qualifications  according  to  these  rules. 

"  7thly.  That  it  be  required  of  every  candidate,  to  qualify  him 
for  admission,  that  he  be  well  acquainted  with  reading,  writing, 
English  grammar  in  all  its  branches,  and  arithmetic  as  far  as 
simple  proportion. 

"Sthly.  That  it  be  required  of  the  Masters  and  Ushers,  as  a 
necessary  qualification,  that  they  shall  have  been  regularly  educated 
at  some  University. 

"  The  Studies  of  the  First  Class  to  be  as  follows: 


Composition. 

Reading  from  the  most  approved 
authors. 

Exercises  in  Criticism ;  com- 
prising critical  analyses  of  the 
language,  grammar,  and  style 


of  the  best  English  authors, 
their  errors  &  beauties. 

Declamations 

Geography. 

Arithmetic  continued, 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS 


301 


The  Studies  of  the  Second  Class. 


Composition. 
Reading. 
Exercises  in 
Criticism. 
Declamation. 
Algebra  : 
Ancient    and 


[continued] 


Modern   History 


and  Chronology. 
Logic. 


Geometry. 

Plane  Trigonometry ;  and  its  ap- 
plication to  mensuration  of 
Heights  and  Distances. 

Navigation. 

Surveying. 

Mensuration  of  Superficies  & 
Solids. 

Forensic  Discussions. 


The  Studies  of  the  Third  Class. 


Natural  Philosophy, 
including  Astronomy 

Moral  and  Political 
Philosophy." 


Composition ; 

Exercises  in 
Criticism ; 

Declamation ; 

Mathematics ;          (.continued 

Logic ; 

History;  particu- 
larly that  of  the 
United  States ;  J 

A  financial  statement  follows,  in  which  it  is  proposed 
that  four  thousand  dollars  yearly  be  spent  on  the  school, 
to  support  a  master,  sub-master,  and  two  ushers.  The 
report  then  closes  with  general  considerations  relating  to 
the  usefulness  of  public  schools. 

In  accordance  with  this  plan,  the  school  opened  in  May, 
1821,  with  Mr.  George  Barrell  Emerson  as  principal  master, 
and  a  membership  of  over  one  hundred  pupils.  And  so 
began  the  establishment  of  city  high  schools  in  this  country. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  term  high  school  does  not 
appear  in  the  early  record  of  this  Boston  institution ;  and  it 
may  not  be  amiss  to  devote  a  little  space  here  to  a  consid- 
eration of  the  titles  of  our  early  schools  of  this  type.  Some- 
times such  a  school  was  known  as  the  free  academy.  This 
hints  at  a  close  connection  in  thought  between  the  high 


302          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

school  and  its  immediate  predecessor,  the  academy.  The 
New  York  City  College  was  known  as  the  New  York  Free 
Academy  in  its  earlier  days.  The  high  school  at  Albany 
bore  a  similar  title  till  1873.  The  term  free,  in  this  case, 
seems  to  refer  to  gratuity  of  instruction.1  The  memorial 
presented  to  the  state  legislature  by  the  board  of  education 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  in  1847,  relative  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Free  Academy,  states  that  "one  object  of  the  pro- 
posed free  institution  is  to  create  an  additional  interest  in, 
and  more  completely  popularize  the  Common  Schools.  It  is 
believed  that  they  will  be  regarded  with  additional  favor,  and 
attended  with  increased  satisfaction  when  the  pupils  and 
their  parents  feel  that  the  children  who  have  received  their, 
primary  education  in  these  schools  can  be  admitted  to  all 
the  benefits  and  advantages  furnished  by  the  best  endowed 
college  in  the  state  without  any  expense  whatever."  2 

Sometimes  the  term  union  school  was  used  rather  loosely 
to  denote  the  highest  department  of  a  graded  school  system. 
This  recalls  at  once  the  fact  that  our  high  schools  are  an 
upward  extension  of  the  public  graded  schools,  and  that 
"  grading "  was  commonly  made  possible  in  the  early  days 
by  a  union  of  school  districts..  Strictly  speaking,  the  graded 
school,  formed  in  this  way,  constituted  in  its  entirety  the 
"  union  school."  But  the  high  school  department  was  the 
most  conspicuous  division  in  such  a  school,  and  so  often 
monopolized  the  appellation  which  belonged  of  right  to  the 
system  as  a  whole.3 

1  Yet  the  Norwich  (Connecticut)  Free  Academy,  which  retains  this  designa- 
tion, requires  the  payment  of  a  small  fee  for  incidentals.     It  is  not  an  ordinary 
high  school,  however,  being  a  chartered  and  endowed  institution.     Dr.  Steiner 
says  of  this  school  that  it,  "better  than  almost  any  other  in  the  State,  com- 
bines the  good  features  of  the  old  academy  with  those  of  the  new  high  school." 
The  history  of  education  in  Connecticut,  p.  53.     The  early  history  of  this  school 
will  be  noted  further  on  in  this  chapter. 

2  Quoted  by  BOESE,  Public  education  in  the  city  of  New  York,  p.  75. 

8  There  is  an  interesting  discussion  of  the  term,  and  the  school  for  which 
it  stands,  in  the  report  of  Ira  Mayhew,  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion of  Michigan,  for  the  year  1857,  pp.  47-49.  See  also  BARNEY,  Report  on 
the  American  system  of  graded  free  schools. 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  80S 

It  would  appear  that  the  term  high  school  was  used  to 
some  extent  in  Pennsylvania,  even  in  colonial  times.  Mr. 
Wickersham  applies  it  to  a  school  established  at  German- 
town  in  1761,  and  carried  on  successfully  for  some  years 
thereafter;  and  to  another  opened  in  1764 "by  the  Schwenck- 
felders,  in  Berks  County,  later  removed  to  Montgomery 
County,  and  maintained  with  a  good  degree  of  success  for 
two  generations.1  The  latter  school  was  started  with  a 
subscription  aggregating  £600,  a  part  of  which  fund  was 
passed  on  to  the  public  schools  when  a  state  system  was 
finally  established  in  Pennsylvania.  Latin,  Greek,  and  the 
higher  mathematics  were  taught  id  its  classes. 

It  is  evident  that  these  Pennsylvania  schools  were  not 
high  schools  of  the  modern  type,  and  it  is  not  likely  that 
they  exercised  any  influence  upon  the  later  use  of  the  desig- 
nation applied  to  them.  If  they  were  called  "  high  schools  " 
by  their  founders,  it  is  probable  that  the  name  was  derived 
from  the  German  Hochschule,  a  term  used  somewhat  indefi- 
nitely to  designate  a  school  of  advanced  grade. 

The  Boston  school  committee,  when  it  came  to  provide  a 
place  of  abode  for  the  proposed  English  high  school,  voted, 
"That  the  third  story  of  the  new  School-house  in  Derne 
Street,  be  appropriated  for  the  present  to  the  use  of  the 
English  Classical  School."  Three  years  later,  June  23, 1824, 
"  it  was  Voted  that  the  schoolhouse  which  the  city  is  now 
building  on  Pinckney  Street  be  appropriated  to  the  use  and 
accommodation  of  the  English  High  School :  —  that  the 
Grammar  School,  on  Derne  Street,  be  hereafter  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Bowdoin  School :  and  that  the 
vote  of  llth  May,  giving  that  name  to  the  house  on  Pinckney 
S'-  be  repealed." 

We  do  not  know  how  the  "  English  Classical  School "  came 
to  be  the  "  English  High  School."  The  latter  title  appears 
for  the  first  time  on  the  records  of  the  school  committee  in 
the  resolution  quoted  above.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the 
vote  of  June  23,  1824,  was  expressly  intended,  among  other 

1  Education  in  Pennsylvania,  pp.  142,  170. 


304          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

things,  to  bestow  upon  this  school  the  designation  of  "  High 
School."  Or,  there  may  have  been  an  earlier  resolution  upon 
the  same  subject  which  failed  through  some  mischance  to 
find  its  proper  place  in  the  secretary's  minutes. 

It  was  a  time  of  new  things  in  Boston.  The  town  became 
a  city  on  the  first  of  May,  1822.  Josiah  Quincy,  its  second 
mayor,  was  at  the  head  of  its  government  from  1823  to 
1828.  He  was  a  man  of  positive  conviclions  and  devoted 
himself  assiduously  to  municipal  affairs.^  Under  the  city 
government,  until  1835,  the  mayor  and  board  of  aldermen 
were  members  ex  officio  of  the  school  committee.  Mr. 
Quincy's  own  account  of  the  establishment  of  the  school 
reads  as  follows  :  "  In  1820,  an  English  classical  school  was 
established,  having  for  its  object  to  enable  the  mercantile 
and  mechanical  classes  to  obtain  an  education  adapted  for 
those  children,  whom  their  parents  wished  to  qualify  for 
active  life,  and  thus  relieve  them  from  the  necessity  of 
incurring  the  expense  incident  to  private  academics." l  It 
may  be  surmised  that  his  own  unfortunate  experience  at 
the  Phillips  Andover  Academy,  in  the  first  years  of  its 
existence,  may  have  pointed  Mr.  Quincy's  reference'  to  the 
school  as  a  substitute  for  the  academy.2  He  certainly 
interested  himself  in  its  affairs,  and  while  still  mayor  was 
deep  in  the  controversy  relating  to  the  high  school  for 
girls.  He  may  have  had  much  or  little  to'  do  with  the 
renaming  of  the  English  Classical  School ;  but  it  seems  not 
improbable  that  he  was  concerned  with  the  change,  that 
the  new  name  was  adopted  in  imitation  of  the  Edinburgh 
High  School,  and  that  one  channel  through  which  the 
influence  of  the  Edinburgh  institution  reached  Boston  was 
John  Griscom's  account  of  his  visit  to  the  Scottish  capital. 

John  Griscom  was  a  Quaker,  living  in  New  York,  a 
man  of  scientific  tastes  and  of  substantial  attainments  in 
chemistry,  a  shrewd  and  sympathetic  observer  of  men  and 
institutions.  He  travelled  extensively  in  Europe,  and  on  his 

1  QUINCY,  A  municipal  history  of  the  town  and  city  of  Boston,  pp.  21-22. 

2  QUINCY,  Life  of  Josiah  Quincy,  pp.  23-28. 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  305 

!  return  published  in  two  volumes  an  account  of  his  observa- 
i  tions.  This  work  was  noticed  at  some  length  in  the  North 
American  Review  for  January,  1824.  The  Review  was  at 
that  time  published  in  Boston. 

Professor  Griscom  (he  was  professor  of  chemistry  and 
natural  philosophy  in  the  "New  York  Institution")  in- 
terested himself  in  European  movements  for  ameliorating 
the  condition  of  the  poor  and  of  the  criminal  class.  He 
devotes  considerable  attention  in  the  account  of  his  travels 
to  Mrs.  Fry's  work  in  the  Newgate  prison.  On  his  return 
to  America  he  was  instrumental  in  securing  the  establish- 
ment of  a  house  of  industry  in  New  York.  Mr.  Quincy,  in 
the  face  of  much  opposition,  brought  about  the  establish- 
ment of  a  similar  institution  for  the  city  of  Boston.  Some 
years  later,  Professor  Griscom  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Quincy, 
and  visited  with  him  the  penal  institutions  at  Boston. 

In  Edinburgh,  Mr.  Griscom  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Dr.  Pillans,  later  professor  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
but  at  that  time  rector  of  the  High  School.  This  school 
interested  the  American  visitor  greatly,  and  his  account  of 
it  is  reproduced  verbatim  in  the  article  already  referred  to, 
in  the  North  American  Review.  But  both  the  author  and 
the  reviewer  were  especially  interested  in  the  fact  that  Dr. 
Pillans  was  employing  the  monitorial  system  in  the  conduct 
of  his  school.  The  Bell-Lancaster  controversy  was  in  full 
swing  in  Great  Britain,  and  many  ardent  school  men  on 
this  side  of  the  water  were  coming  to  believe  that  the 
Lancasterian  method  had  been  sent  down  from  heaven  to 
solve  the  problem  of  financiering  a  complete  system  of 
popular  education.  The  state  of  New  York,  at  the  prompt- 
ing of  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton,  had  entered  upon  a  general 
Lancasterian  movement  in  the  second  decade  of  this  century. 
Massachusetts  was  more  conservative,  but  numerous  schools 
of  the  same  type  began  to  spring  up  within  her  borders  in 
the  twenties.  Yet  there  had  appeared  but  little  disposition 
on  either  side  of  the  water  to  extend  the  system  to  secondary 
schools ;  and  the  great  apparent  success  of  Dr.  Pillans' 

20 


B06          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

experiment  in  the  Edinburgh  High  School  commanded 
thoughtful  attention. 

The  reviewer  remarks  "  that  the  city  of  Boston,  which 
makes,  we  doubt  not,  in  proportion  to  its  means,  a  more 
honorable  exertion  for  the  instruction  of  its  own  community, 
and  is  rewarded  by  a  more  excellent  success,  than  any  other 
city  of  equal  size  in  the  world,  pays  at  least  twice  as  much 
for  the  instruction  of  a  boy  in  its  admirable  Latin  School,  as 
is  paid  for  the  instruction  of  a  boy  at  the'  High  School,  in 
the  more  expensive  city  of  Edinburgh ; "  and  makes  a  con- 
servative suggestion  that  those  who  have  the  management 
of  public  instruction  inquire  into  £he  practicability  of  adopt- 
ing some  portions  of  the  system  of  mutual  instruction. 

Professor  Griscom  himself  proceeded  to  establish  a  school 
at  New  York,  under  the  management  of  a  board  of  trustees. 
These  trustees  were  incorporated  as  the  "  High-School 
Society,"  and  the  school  was  known  as  the  "  High  School 
for  Boys."  It  was  not  opened  till  the  first  of  March,  1825, 
some  months  after  the  Boston  school  had  taken  its  new 
name ;  but  its  establishment  seems  to  have  been  under 
consideration  and  discussion  for  a  year  or  two  before  the 
formal  opening. 

The  history  of  this  incorporated  "  high  school "  in  New 
York  can  be  traced  for  several  years,  in  a  series  of  published 
reports.  They  are  well  edited  and"  make  interesting  read- 
ing. The  school  received  over  six  hundred  scholars  the 
first  year.  The  same  society  opened  a  "  Female  High- 
School  "  February  1,  1826.  The  monitorial  system  was 
employed  in  these  schools,  but  apparently  with  more  reserve 
and  caution  in  the  higher  than  in  the  lower  classes.  The 
following  statement  as  to  studies  is  taken  from  the  first 
report : 

"  It  should  never  be  forgotten,  that  the  grand  object  of  this  insti- 
tution is  to  prepare  the  boys  for  such  advancement,  and  such 
pursuits  in  life,  as  they  are  destined  to  after  leaving  it.  All  who 
enter  the  school  do  not  intend  to  remain  for  the  same  period  of 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  307 

time  —  and  many  who  leave  it  expect  to  enter  immediately  upon 
the  active  business  of  life.  It  is  very  plain  that  these  circumstances 
must  require  corresponding  classifications  of  scholars  and  of 
studies." 

"Some  pursuits  are  nevertheless  common  to  all.  All  the 
scholars  in  this  department  attend  to  Spelling,  Writing,  Arithmetic, 
Geography,  Elocution,  Composition,  Drawing,  Philosophy,  Natural 
History,  and  Book-Keeping.  Philosophy  and  Natural  History  are 
taught  chiefly  by  lectures  and  by  questions ;  and  these  branches, 
together  with  Elocution  and  Composition,  are  severally  attended  to 
one  day  in  every  week."  l 

The  fourth  report  contains  a  biographical  sketch  of 
Daniel  H.  Barnes,  associate  principal  of  the  school,  whose 
life  had  been  lost  in  a  stage-coach  accident.  The  following 
passage  relates  to  his  acceptance  of  the  monitorial  system : 

u  He  had  satisfied  himself  of  the  value  of  this  system  by  trial  on 
a  small  scale  in  his  own  private  classes,  when  his  confidence  in  its 
efficacy  was  increased  by  its  successful  application  in  the  High 
School  of  Edinburgh  by  Professor  Pellans,  as  well  as  by  the  attesta- 
tions of  Drs.  Mann  and  D'Oyley  to  its  use  in  the  Charter-House 
School  of  London. 

"  He,  therefore,  eagerly  co-operated  in  the  foundation  of  the 
High  School  for  Boys,  in  1824."  a 

It  appears  that  dissatisfaction  with  the  name  of  the  new 
Boston  school  had  found  expression  as  early  as  1823.  The 
Prize  Book  of  the  Latin  School  published  in  that  year  con- 
tains an  admirable  account  of  the  free  schools  of  Boston, 
written  undoubtedly  by  Mr.  B.  A.  Gould,  then  principal  of 
the  Latin  School.  The  part  relating  to  the  school  we  have 
under  consideration  opens  with  the  following  paragraph : 

"Public  opinion  and  the  wants  of  a  large  class  of  citizens  of  this 
town  have  long  been  calling  for  a  school  in  which  those,  who  have 

1  First  annual  report  of  the  High-School  Society,  pp.  6-7. 

2  Fourth  annual  report  of  the  High-School  Society,  pp.  10-11.    This  school 
died  about  the  close  of  the  year  1831. 


308          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

either  not  the  desire  or  the  means  of  obtaining  a  classical  education, 
might  receive  instruction  in  many  branches  of  great  practical 
importance  which  have  usually  been  taught  only  at  the  Colleges. 
This  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  English  Classical  School." 

A  foot-note  to  the  last  sentence  contains  the  following 
comment : 

"  This  is  as  far  as  possible  from  being  what  its  name  indicates, 
as  the  classics,  properly  so  called,  are  not  taught,  nor  any  knowl- 
edge of  their  languages  required.  It  is  hoped  that  an  enlightened 
board  of  school  committee  will  find  some  more  appropriate  name 
for  this  school,  and  not  suffer  so  erroneous  a  use  of  terms  to  pre- 
vail among  the  youth  of  Boston." l 

Whether  with  or  without  official  sanction,  the  change  of 
name  was  made,  as  we  have  seen,  in  1824.  But  at  one  time 
the  use  of  the  earlier  designation  was  resumed.  In  1832 
the  school  committee,  finding  no  authority  in  their  minutes 
for  the  title  "  English  High  School,"  dropped  it  and  called 
the  institution  the  "  English  Classical  School,"  as  at  the  be- 
ginning. The  committee  took  considerable  interest  in  this 
matter,  and  one  would  guess  from  jbhe  record  that  it  was  the 
occasion  of  some  controversy.  However,  this  action  of  1832 
was  reversed  in  the  following  year,  and  since  that  time  the 
school  has  been  uniformly  known  as  the  English  High 
School. 

It  seems  altogether  probable,  in  the  light  of  such  facts  as 
have  been  presented,  that  this  name  was  suggested  by  that 
of  the  high  school  at  Edinburgh.2  But  it  is  not  so  clear 
that  the  Boston  school  followed  the  example  of  its  Scotch 
namesake  in  other  particulars.  I  have  not  found  evidence 
that  the  system  of  mutual  instruction  was  ever  introduced 
into  the  English  High  School.  Moreover,  the  instruction  in 
the  ancient  classics,  which  was  —  and  I  suppose  still  is  —  the 

1  Op.  tit.,  p.  16. 

2  How  did  the  Edinburgh  school  get  its  name  ?    And  was  not  the  term  high 
school  already  a  common  one  in  Scotland  two  or  three  centuries  ago  ?   It  might 
be  of  interest  to  follow  these  questions  further. 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  309 

most  marked  feature  of  the  Edinburgh  school,  was  not  in- 
troduced into  the  English  High  School  at  all,  in  the  earlier 
days.  The  contrast  between  the  two  schools  in  this  par- 
ticular is  brought  out  sharply  by  another  passage  in  Gris- 
com's  account.  He  says: 

"  Although  the  system  of  instruction  adopted  in  the  High  School 
jis,  professedly,  intended  to  be  chiefly  classical ;  P[illans]  remarked, 
that  he  should  think  himself  very  deficient  in  his  duty,  in  teaching 
the  boys  only  Latin  and  Greek,  and  omitting  to  avail  himself  of 
every  suitable  occasion  to  inculcate  moral  truth,  and  to  excite  them 
to  intellectual  exertion.  This  he  regards  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant advantages  of  classical  instruction.  He  thinks  it  might 
be  practicable  to  frame  a  course  of  English  study,  that  would  be 
equally  efficacious  in  training  the  mind  to  the  pursuit  of  knowledge, 
and  in  disciplining  its  powers  to  a  close  and  vigorous  application; 
but  such  a  course  of  study  would  be  exceedingly  unpopular  in 
Scotland."  l 

The  ideas  embodied  in  the  English  High  School,  then, 
cannot  be  traced  to  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh,  however 
much  the  rector  of  that  school  at  the  time  may  have  been 
disposed  to  look  favorably  on  such  ideas.  In  so  far  as  they 
were  drawn  from  institutions  then  existing,  we  can  trace 
them  to  the  English  side  of  the  New  England  academies ; 
and  to  the  English  grammar  schools  of  Boston,  of  which  the 
high  school  was  an  extension  upward.  The  school  was  un- 
doubtedly influenced  also  by  the  Latin  School,  which  it 
,  ttialleled.  In  one  important  particular  the  example  of  the 
Edinburgh  school  may  in  all  likeliho/xl  have  worked  to  the 
advantage  of  the  high  school  in  Boston.  From  the  year  T566 
the  former  institution  had  been  under  the  direct  control  and 
patronage  of  the  city  authorities  of  Edinburgh.  Like  other 
schools  of  the  Scotch  municipalities,  it  enjoyed  a  peculiarly 
close  relationship  with  the  civic  life  of  the  community  in 
which  it  was  established;  Both  the  Latin  School  and  the 
English  High  School  have  stood  in  a  like  relationship  with 

1  Op.  tit.,  II.,  p.  365. 


310          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

the  civic  life  of  Boston.  Edinburgh  and  Boston  have  had 
many  common  interests,  and  pride  in  institutions  of  learning 
under  public  control  has  been  not  the  least  of  these.  This 
connection  of  the  schools  with  the  political  community  is 
worthy  of  special  notice,  for  such  connection  has  been  of 
great  significance  in  the  growth  of  our  American  high  schools. 
It  would  seem  that  the  example  of  Edinburgh  has  had  its 
influence  along  with  that  of  Boston  in  our  high  school 
movement  beyond  the  limits  of  New  England.  When  the 
Public  School  Society  of  New  York  made  their  appeal,  in 
1828,  for  means  wherewith  to  establish  a  high  school,  the 
examples  to  which  they  pointed  in  support  of  their  plan 
were  those  of  Edinburgh  and  Boston  : 

"  The  means  of  instruction,  which  are  offered  to  the  poor,  should 
be  the  very  best  which  can  be  provided.  They  may  not  all  be  able 
to  proceed  so  far  in  the  path  of  learning  as  others  in  happier  cir- 
cumstances. But  to  the  extent  of  their  progress,  let  them  have  all 
the  helps  which  the  present  state  of  knowledge  affords.  This  is 
no  mere  fanciful  theory.  The  advantages  of  a  free  intercourse  and 
competition  between  persons  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  in  life,  as 
exhibited  in  the  Edinburgh  High  School,  have  been  admirably 
illustrated  by  one  of  the  first  British  orators  of  the  age.  He  re- 
garded such  an  institution  as  invaluable  in  a  free  state ;  because,  to 
use  his  own  language,  men  of  the  highest  and  lowest  rank  in  the 
community  sent  their  children  there  to  be  educated  together.  The 
practical  beneficence  of  this  system  is  attested  by  the  noble  insti- 
tutions of  a  sister  city." l 

1  An  address  of  the  trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  to  their  fellow-citizens  respecting  the  extension  of  their  public  schools. 
New  York,  1828,  p.  11. 

The  "sister  city  "  is  undoubtedly  Boston,  which  is  elsewhere  mentioned  by 
name  in  the  same  document.  The  British  orator  referred  to  is  Lord  Brougham, 
who  had  been  an  Edinburgh  High-School  boy.  The  remarks  quoted  from 
him  were  uttered  at  the  great  entertainment  given  in  his  honor  in  Edin- 
burgh in  1825.  STEVEN  gives  the  passage  in  full  (History  of  the  high  school  of 
Edinburgh,  pp.  212-213).  It  may  be  added  that  Lord  Brougham's  Practical 
observations  upon  the  education  of  the  people,  which  ran  through  twenty  edi- 
tions in  the  year  of  its  publication  (1825),  was  reprinted  the  following  year  in 
Boston. 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  311 

Within  a  few  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  English 
High  School  in  Boston,  several  other  schools  of  similar 
character  were  opened  in  different  parts  of  Massachusetts. 
The  "Educational  Revival"  was  soon  in  full' progress  in 
that  state,  and  public  schools  of  all  grades  were  quickened 
and  strengthened  by  it. 

A  little  later  the  high  school  movement  passed  beyond 
the  bounds   of   Massachusetts,      The   state   legislature   of. 
Pennsylvania  had  passed  an  act,  in  1818,  making  the  "Lan- 
casterian"  system  obligatory  on  the  schools  of  Philadelphia. 
In  1836  this  statute  was  repealed,  and  the  new   act  for 
Philadelphia  then  passed  authorized  the  establishment  of  a 
hicrh  school.     The  Central  High  School,  erected  under  this 
act  was  opened  to  students  in  October,  1838.     The  first  year 
!  its   organization    was   tentative.     Then  it  came  under  the 
strong,  shaping  hand  of  Alexander  Dallas  Bache,  who  was 
at  its  head  from  1839  to  1842.     He  provided  three  parall< 
courses:  An  English  course,  two  years  in  length  ;  a  classical 
course  of  four  years ;  and  a  modern  languages  course  of  four 
years.     Professor  Bache,  in  1841,  described  the  object  of  the 
school  as  being  "  especially  to  provide  a  liberal  education  for 
those  intended  for  business  life."     The  legislature  granted  to 
it  in  1849,  the  power  to  confer  academic  degrees. 

'The  mayor  and  city  council  of  Baltimore,  in  1839,  author- 
ized and  requested  the  commissioners  of  public  schools  of 
that  city  to  establish  a  high  school,  "in  which  the  higher 
branches  of  English  and  classical  literature  only  should 
tauorht"  In  accordance  with  this  resolution,  the  Baltimore 
hiorh  school  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1839.  In  1848  the 
name  of  this  institution  was  changed  to. "the  Central 
School,"  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Eastern  and 
Western  high  schools,  which  had  then  been  provided.  A 
reorganization  in  1851  introduced  the  departmental  plan  of 
instruction.  The  name  was  changed  by  city  ordinance,  in 
1866,  to  "The  Baltimore  City  College." 

Charleston,  South  Carolina,  was  about  this  time  a  cente 
of   particularly  active  educational   interest.     In    1839,  the 


312          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

city  council  voted  to  establish  a  high  school,  and  the  school 
was  opened  on  the  first  of  July  of  that  year.  A  tuition  fee 
of  forty  cellars  a  year  was  charged,  the  city  council  voting 
to  supplement  the  income  from  this  source  so  as  to  provide 
amply  for  the  maintenance  of  the  school.  An  annual 
appropriation  of  one  thousand  dollars  was  also  voted  "  to  be 
invested  in  city  bonds  to  form  a  permanent  fund  for  the 
school."  Only  boys  were  admitted.  They  were  offered  two 
parallel  courses  of  study,  classical  and  English,  each  four 
years  in  length. 

At  Providence,  Ehode  Island,  a  graded  school  system  had 
been  established  in  1829.  In  1838,  after  much  opposition, 
a  city  ordinance  was  secured  providing  for  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  schools  and  the  establishment  of  a  high  school. 
The  next  year  Nathan  Bishop  was  employed  as  school 
superintendent.  The  high  school  building  was  dedicated 
early  in  1843,  and  the  school  was  opened,  with  the  super- 
intendent acting  as  its  principal.  This  school  had  a  girls' 
department  from  the  start.  In  1855  the  boys'  department 
was  divided  into  a  classical  and  an  English  and  scientific 
department. 

A  number  of  such  schools  were  established  in  the  towns 
of  Ohio  in  the  course  of  the  forties.  Connecticut  joined  in 
the  movement  about  the  same  time;  and  in  1847,  after  a 
campaign  of  education  led  by  such  men  as  Horace  Bushnell 
and  Henry  Barnard,  Hartford  voted  "  to  establish  a  free 
high  school  for  instruction  in  the  higher  branches  of  an 
English  and  the  elementary  branches  of  a  classical  educa- 
tion, for  all  the  male  and  female  children  of  suitable  age  and 
acquirements  in  this  society,  who  may  wish  to  avail  them- 
selves of  its  advantages."  The  old,  colonial  grammar  school 
of  Hartford,  which  had  been  transformed  into  something 
like  an  academy,  as  has  already  been  told,  was  now  made 
a  part  of  the  new  high  school,  and  the  income  from  its 
endowment  was  used  for  the  support  of  a  classical  teacher. 

An  act  of  the  New  York  state  legislature  authorized  the 
board  of  education  of  New  York  City,  in  1847,  to  establish 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  313 

a  free  academy.  This  act  was  ratified  the  same  year  by 
vote  of  the  city,  and  the  school  was  opened  the  following 
year.  In  1854  it  was  empowered  to  grant  academic  degrees. 
On  recommendation  of  the  board  of  education,  in  1866,  the 
institution  became  "  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York." 

From  1850  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  the  es- 
tablishment of  high  schools  went  steadily  forward.  In 
Cincirfciati  the  Hughes  and  Woodward  funds,  devoted  to 
educational  uses  by  two  early  citizens  of  that  town,  were 
made  available  for  an  extension  of  the  public  schools  in 
1851,  and  the  Hughes  and  Woodward  High  Schools  were 
accordingly  established.  The  Woodward  endowment,  dating 
from  1826,  had  maintained  a  high  school,  so  called,  from 
1831  to  1836,  and  a  college  from  1836  to  1851.  The 
Hughes  bequest  had  been  made  in  1824. 

The  Girls'  High  School l  of  Boston,  which  had  been  closed 
in  1828  after  a  flourishing  existence  of  only  two  years,  was 
reopened,  in  1852,  as  a  training  school  for  teachers.  St. 
Louis  opened  a  regular  high  school  in  1853,  Chicago  and 
San  Francisco  each  in  1856,  and  Detroit  in  1858. 

How  many  schools  of  this  class  were  in  existence  previous 
to  the  Civil  War,  it  would  be  hard  to  say.  According  to 
Barney's  Report  on  the  American  system,  eighty  cities  had 
such  schools  in  185 l.a  One  year  later,  there  were  sixty- 
four  reported  in  Massachusetts  alone.3  Ohio  is  said  to  have 
had  ninety-seven  in  1856.4  Other  states  were  already  mak- 
ing considerable  progress  in  the  building  up  of  such  institu- 
tions. Dr.  Harris*  estimate  of  forty  high  schools  in  the 
whole  country  in  1860 6  was  doubtless  reached  through 

1  For  a  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  this  school,  see  The  School  Review, 
VII.,  pp.  286-294,  May,  1899. 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  5. 

8  HILL,  How  far  the  high  school  is  a  just  charge,  etc. 

4  TAYLOR,  Ohio  scJwol  system,  p.  409. 

5  In  his  address  on  Recent  growth  of  public  high  schools,  etc.  (Proc.  N.  E.  A., 
session  of   1901,    pp.    174-180).     Dr.    Harris   has   of  late   been   making  an 
extended  inquiry  into  the   chronology  of  our   early   high  schools,  and  has 
courteously   permitted    me   to  make   use   of  a  tabulated  summary  of   his 
results.     See  Appendix  D. 


314          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

a  winnowing  process.  It  is  fair  to  presume  that  many 
institutions  known  as  high  schools  were  only  advanced  ele- 
mentary schools,  so  far  as  their  spirit  and  methods  were  con- 
cerned. On  the  other  hand,  many  elementary  schools,  under 
ambitious  teachers,  were  pushing  upward  into  higher  ranges 
of  study.  "  Our  public  schools  must  be  expanded  upwards," 
said  Samuel  Lewis  of  Ohio.  This  conviction  was  abroad, 
among  teachers  and  members  of  educational  board^1 

Yet  'the  great  majority  of  students  pursuing  secondary 
school  studies  was  still  found  in  the  academies,  and  the 
establishment  of  new  academies  was  going  steadily  forward. 
It  is  not  surprising  that,  although  the  institutions  of  these 
two  types  were  so  diverse  in  character  and  aims,  there 
should  have  sprung  up  an  active  rivalry  between  them. 
This  rivalry  was  not  simply  a  competition  for  patronage, 
but  was  much  more  the  clash  of  opposing  views  of  public 
education. 

The  discussions  of  the  time,  particularly  those  wnich 
attended  the  establishment  of  new  high  schools,  throw 
much  light  on  the  principles  and  aspirations  of  the  two 
institutions.2  An  unusually  illuminating  literature  of  this 
sort  was  called  forth  by  the  establishment  of  the  free  acad- 
emy at  Norwich,  Connecticut,  early  in  the  fifties.  This 
institution  differed  from  the  ordinary  type  both  of  the 
academy  and  of  the  high  school.  Its  origin  is  described 
as  follows  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  annual  catalogue:3 

"  The  Free  Academy  originated  in  a  remarkable  movement  of 
leading  citizens  for  the  improvement  of  the  educational  advantages 
of  Norwich.  This  movement  commenced  about  1846  and  culmi- 

1  Mr.  Gifford  H.  G.  McGrew,  of  the  University  of  California,  has  prepared 
a  preliminary  list  of  early  high  schools.     I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  McGrew  for  a 
copy  of  his  manuscript,  which  has  been  of  help  to  me  in  the  preparation  of  this 
chapter. 

2  On  various  aspects  of  this  discussion,  see  for  example,  STOCK  WELL,  Public 
education  in  Rhode  Island,  pp.  175-194;  the  centennial  History  of  education 
in  the.  state  of  Ohio,  pp.  133-148,  158,  160-162,  and  172  ;  and  BARNEY'S  Re- 
port of  1851,  with  MUDD'S  Review  of  1853. 

8  The  quotation  is  from  the  catalogue  for  1894-95. 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  315 

nated  in  1854,  when  the  academy  was  incorporated.  The  leader 
of  the  enterprise  was  Dr.  John  P.  Gulliver,  who  died  last  year  in 
Andover,  Mass.,  and  has  left  behind  him  an  enduring  claim  to  the 
gratitude  of  dwellers  in  Norwich  in  all  coming  generations.  The 
popular  movement  was  part  of  that  general  agitation  out  of  which 
came  the  high-school  system,  first  developed  by  Horace  Mann  in 
Massachusetts,  and  afterward  generally  adopted  in  the  United 
States. 

"  In  Norwich,  however,  no  high  school  was  established.  Instead 
of  this,  a  body  of  the  most  influential  citizens  took  upon  their  own 
shoulders  the  burden  of  providing  for  higher  education.  Amid 
much  enthusiasm  an  endowment  of  $50,000  was  raised,  with 
$30,000  additional  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  school  building,  and 
the  academy  was  opened  October  21,  1856,  with  eighty  pupils. 
The  school,  thus  auspiciously  founded,  grew  with  a  healthy  growth, 
in  both  endowment  and  number  of  pupils,  during  the  first  thirty 
years  of  its  existence  ;  but  the  great  extension  of  its  influence 
and  its  expansion  during  the  last  ten  years,  beyond  what  even  its 
founders  ventured  to  anticipate,  are  chiefly  due  to  the  wise  liberality 
and  personal  interest  of  Mr.  William  A.  Slater,  a  graduate  of  the 
academy  in  1875,  and  of  Harvard  University  in  1881." 

A  more  detailed  account  of  the  beginnings  was  given  by 
Dr.  Gulliver  himself  in  his  address  at  the  dedication  of  the 
first  Free  Academy  building,  in  October,  1856.  Its  bearing 
upon  our  subject  is  so  intimate,  and  the  intrinsic  interest  of 
certain  portions  is  so  great,  that  somewhat  extended  passages 
from  it  are  here  presented : 

"  In  January,  1839,  a  serious  effort  was  made  to  effect  a  thorough 
reorganization  of  the  city  schools.  This  movement  took  its  rise  in 
the  debates  of  the  Norwich  Mechanics'  Association,  in  whose  meet- 
ings the  question  had  been  discussed  for  two  years,  '  Is  the  school 
fund  of  Connecticut,  as  at  present  used,  an  injury  or  a  benefit  to 
our  schools  1 '  The  conviction  became  at  last  quite  universal  that 
without  additional  taxation  of  property  for  the  support  of  schools 
the  fund  is  a  decided  injury  to  the  cause  it  was  intended  to  pro- 
mote. A  petition  was  accordingly  prepared,  in  which  similar 
associations  in  Hartford  and  New  Haven  united ;  praying  the 


316          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

legislature  to  grant  to  school  districts  the  power  of  imposing  taxes 
for  the  support  of  schools. 

"  This  petition  was  granted  in  respect  to  the  districts  represented 
by  the  petitioners.  Thereupon  a  report  was  presented  by  the  Eev. 
Mr.  Paddock  and  Mr.  Francis  A.  Perkins  to  the  school  society 
recommending  the  union  of  the  three  central  districts  of  the  city 
and  the  establishment  in  them  of  a  graded  system  of  schools,  with 
a  high  school  at  its  head.  This  plan  was,  after  some  discussion, 
adopted  without  a  dissenting  voice.  Certain  individuals  were, 
however,  dissatisfied  with  this  result,  and  in  September  of  the  same 
year  they  succeeded  in  procuring  a  reconsideration  of  the  former 
vote,  and  the  project  was  for  that  time  abandoned." 

An  interesting  reference  is  made  to  the  struggle,  carried 
on  in  mass  meetings  and  at  the  polls,  between  the  advocates 
and  the  opponents  of  the  high  school.  The  address  then 
continues  : 

"  This  was  the  soil  into  which  the  seed  was  cast  from  which 
grew  the  grand  enterprise  whose  successful  beginning  we  celebrate 
to-day.  In  the  midst  of  the  struggle  a  gentleman,  since  a  large 
donor  to  the  institution,  declared,  more  in  jest  than  in  earnest, 
'  These  men  talk  about  a  high  school !  I  would  not  take  one  for  a 
gift  if  it  is  to  be  managed  by  such  assemblages  as  we  have  lately 
had  at  the  Town  Hall.  I  am  in  favor  of  an  endowed  school  and 
would  give  $5,000  toward  one/  This  chance  remark  suggested 
the  idea  of  this  institution ;  and  led  to  a  series  of  inquiries  and 
investigations  which  were  continued  for  two  years.  The  first  ques- 
tion was,  Are  public  high  schools,  supported  by  taxation,  in  all 
respects  successful  1  the  second,  Would  endowed  free  schools  remedy 
their  defects  1  the  third,  On  what  plan  should  endowed  schools  be 
conducted  in  order  to  insure  success  ?  On  these  points,  either  by 
correspondence  or  by  personal  interviews^  a  large  number  of  the 
leading  educators  of  the  country  were  consulted.  It  was  ascer- 
tained that  in  all  quarters  apprehension  was  beginning  to  be  felt  in 
regard  to  the  working  of  our  higher  public  schools.  The  lower 
schools  up  to  the  grade  of  the  grammar  school  were  well  sustained. 
Men  were  to  be  found  in  all  our  communities  who  had  been  them- 
selves educated  up  to  that  point,  and  understood,  practically,  the 
importance  of  such  schools,  in  sufficient  numbers  to  control  popular 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  BIT 

sentiment,  and  secure  for  them  ample  appropriations  and  steady 
support.     But  the  studies  of  the  high  school,  Algebra,  Geometry, 
Chemistry,   Natural   Philosophy,   Ancient  History,  Latin,   Greek, 
French  and  German,  were  a  perfect  '  terra  incognita '  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  people.     While  the  High  School  was  a  new  thing  and 
while  a  few  enlightened  citizens  had  the  control  of  it,  in  numerous 
instances  it  was  carried  to  a  high  state  of  perfection.     But  after  a 
time  the  burden  of  taxation  would  begin  to  be  felt.     Men  would 
discuss  the  high  salaries  paid  to  the  accomplished  teachers  which 
such  schools  demand,  and  would  ask,  « To  what  purpose  is  this 
waste  r     Demagogues,  keen-scented   as  wolves,  would  snuff  the 
prey.     '  What  do  we  want  of  a  High  School  to  teach  rich  men's 
children  1 '  they  would  shout.      '  It  is  a  shame  to  tax  the  poor  man 
to  pay  a  man  $1,800  to  teach  children  to  make  x's  and  pot-hooks 
and  gabble  parley-vous.'     The  work  would  go  bravely  on ;  and  on 
election  day,  amid  great  excitement,  a  new  school  committee  would 
be  chosen,  in  favor  of  retrenchment  and  popular  rights.     In  a  single 
day  the  fruit  of  years  of  labor  would  be  destroyed.     Such  occur- 
rences, it  was  ascertained,  had  already  become  sufficiently  numerous 
to  excite  alarm  among  the  most  intelligent  friends  of  education. 
Even  in  communities  where  the  high  school  had  been  uniformly 
prosperous,  it  appeared  that  the  same  influence  was  at  work  and 
awakened  constant   apprehension.     The  proposal  to   establish  an 
endowed  high  school  was  regarded  with  great  favor,  and  a  uni- 
form opinion  was  expressed  that,  properly  managed,  it  would  supply 
all  the  defects  in  the  public  high  school.     Indeed  the  plan,  though 
generally  regarded  as  impracticable,  was  hailed  with  enthusiasm, 
as  at  least  a  theoretical  solution  of  a  very  perplexing  problem. 
The  next  point  was  to  ascertain  the  principles  which  should  form 
the  basis  of  such  an  enterprise.     The  Putnam  School,  at  Newbury- 
port,  seemed  to  furnish  the  best  model  for  imitation.     This  school 
had  received   an   endowment    of    $30,000,  from  Oliver  Putnam, 
Esq.,  of  Kewbury,  and  was  then  in  successful  operation,  extending 
a  most  beneficent  influence  over  a  Avide  circle  of  common  schools  in 
eastern  Massachusetts.     One  unfortunate  error  had,  however,  been 
committed  by  its  founders,  in  assigning  the  election  of  the  trustees 
to  the  town.     A  noted  political  leader,  taking  advantage  of  this 
circumstance,  persuaded  the  people  that  Mr.  Putnam's  design  in 
founding  the  school,  was  not  so   much  to  raise  the  standard  of 
education,  as  to  relieve  the  burden  of  taxation,  and  proposed  that 


318          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

the  school  should  be  made  a  substitute  for  one  of  the  public  schools 
of  the  town.  There  is  great  danger  that  the  benevolent  design  of 
Mr.  Putnam  will  be  frustrated  by  the  same  influence  which  is  sap- 
ping the  foundation  of  many  of  our  public  high  schools.  Another 
salutary  caution  was  given  by  the  experience  of  the  endowed  school 
at  Colchester.  The  funds  there  are  under  the  control  of  a  self- 
perpetuating  board  of  trustees.  But  the  school  embraces  all  de- 
partments of  instruction  from  the  infant  school  upward.  Then  it 
becomes  a  rival  to  the  common  schools,  and  depresses  rather  than 
elevates  them.  Various  other  points  in  the  plan  became  the  sub- 
ject of  careful  thought  and  inquiry.  The  effort  was  made  to  attain 
all  the  light  which  the  experience  and  skill  of  practical  educators 
could  furnish,  though  the  painful  conviction  still  remained,  that 
others  would,  in  like  manner,  hereafter  learn  wisdom  from  the 
errors  into  which  we  might  fall."  l 

The  opposing  view  was  forcibly  presented  about  this  time 
by  the  Hon.  George  S.  Boutwell,  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Education  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  an  address  be- 
fore the  American  Institute  of  Instruction.  The  following 
passages  from  that  address  are  especially  significant : 

"  The  distinguishing  difference  between  the  advocates  of  endowed 
schools  and  of  free  schools  is  this  :  those  who  advocate  the  system 
of  endowed  academies  go  back  in  their  arguments  to  one  founda- 
tion, which  is,  that  in  education  of  the  higher  grades  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  are  not  to  be  trusted.  And  those  who  advocate 
a  system  of  free  education  in  high  schools  put  the  matter  where  we 
have  put  the  rights  of  property  and  liberty,  where  we  put  the  insti- 
tutions of  law  and  religion  —  upon  the  public  judgment.  And  we 
will  stand  there.  If  the  public  will  not  maintain  institutions  of 
learning,  then,  I  say,  let  institutions  of  learning  go  down. 

"  It  is  said  that  the  means  of  education  are  better  in  an  endowed 
academy,  or  in  an  endowed  free  school,  than  they  can  be  in  a  pub- 
lic school.  What  is  meant  by  means  of  education  ?  I  understand 
that,  first  and  chiefly,  as  extraneous  means  of  education,  we  must 
look  to  a  correct  public  sentiment,  which  shall  animate  and  influ- 
ence the  teacher,  which  shall  give  direction  to  the  school,  which 

1  Norwich  Weekly  Courier  for  November  25,  1856. 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  319 

shall  furnish  the  necessary  public  funds.  An  endowed  free 
academy  can  have  none  of  these  things  permanently.  Take,  for 
example,  the  free  school  established  at  Norwich  by  the  liberality  of 
thirty  or  forty  gentlemen,  who  contributed  ninety  thousand  dol- 
lars. What  security  is  there  that  fifty  years  hence,  when  the 
educational  wants  of  the  people  shall  be  changed,  when  the  popu- 
lation of  Norwich  shall  be  double  or  treble  what  it  is  now,  when 
•science  shall  make  greater  demands,  when  these  forty  contributors 
shall  have  passed  away,  this  institution  will  answer  the  wants  of 
that  generation  1  According  to  what  we  know  of  the  history  of 
this  country,  it  will  be  entirely  inadequate ;  and,  though  none 
of  us  may  live  to  see  the  prediction  fulfilled  or  falsified,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  the  school  will  ultimately  prove  a  failure, 
because  it  is  founded  in  a  mistake."1 

Mr.  Boutwell  discussed  the  same  question  in  an  address 
delivered  at  the  dedication  of  the  Powers  Institute  at  Ber- 
nardston.  His  reference  to  Dartmouth  College  on  that 
occasion  is  significant  of  the  effect  which  the  supreme  court 
decision  had  had  upon  popular  opinion  with  reference  to 
secondary  schools.  He  said : 

"  This  institution  is  a  high  school,  and  the  question  is  now 
agitated,  especially  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  '  How  can  the 
advantages  of  a  high-school  education  be  best  secured  1 '  This 
question  I  propose  to  consider.  And,  first,  the  high  school  must 
l)e  a  public  school..  A  public  school  I  understand  to  be  a  school 
established  by  the  public  —  supported  chiefly  or  entirely  by  the 
public,  controlled  by  the  public,  and  accessible  to  the  public  upon 
terms  of  equality,  without  special  charge  for  tuition. 

"  Private  schools  may  be  established  and  controlled  by  an  in- 
dividual, or  by  an  association  of  individuals,  who  have  no  corporate 
rights  under  the  government,  but  receive  pupils  upon  terms  agreed 
upon,  subject  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  the  land. 

"  Private  schools  may  be  founded  also  by  one  or  more  persons, 
and  by  them  endowed  with  funds  for  their  partial  or  entire  sup- 
port. In  such  cases  the  founder,  through  the  money  given,  has 
the  right  to  prescribe  the  rules  by  which  the  school  shall  be  con- 

1  BOUTWELL,  Educational  topics  and  institutions,  pp.  152-154. 


320          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

trolled,  and  also  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  its  managers  or 
trustees  through  all  time.  In  such  cases,  corporate  powers  are 
usually  granted  by  the  government  for  the  management  of  the 
business.  But  the  chief  rights  of  such  an  institution  are  derived 
from  the  founder,  and  the  facilities  for  their  easy  exercise  and 
quiet  enjoyment  are  derived  from  the  state. 

"  Such  schools  are  sometimes,  upon  a  superficial  view,  supposed 
to  be  public,  because  they  receive  pupils  upon  terms  of  equality, 
and  no  rule  of  exclusion  exists  which  does  not  apply  to  all.  And 
especially  has  it  been  assumed  that  a  free  school  thus  founded,  as 
the  Norwich  Free  Academy,  which  makes  no  charges  for  tuition, 
and  is  open  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  is  therefore  a  public 
school.  These  institutions  are  public  in  their  use,  but  not  in  their 
foundation  or  control,  and  are  therefore  not  public  schools.  The 
character  of  a  school,  as  of  an  eleemosynary  institution,  is  derived 
from  the  will  of  the  founder ;  and  when  the  beneficial  founder  is 
an  individual,  or  a  number  of  individuals  less  than  the  whole  politi- 
cal organization  of  which  the  individuals  are  a  part,  the  institution 
is  private,  whatever  the  rules  for  its  enjoyment  may  be.  To  say 
that  a  school  is  a  public  school  because  it  receives  pupils  free  of 
charge  for  tuition,  or  because  it  receives  them  upon  conditions  that 
are  applied  alike  to  all,  is  to  deny  that  there  are  any  private  schools, 
for  all  come  within  the  definition  thus  laid  down. 

"  Nor  is  there  any  good  reasoning  in  the  statement  that  a  school 
is  public  because  it  receives  pupils  from  a  large  extent  of  country. 
Dartmouth  College  is  a  private  school,  though  its  pupils  come  from 
all  the  land  or  all  the  world  ;  while  "the  Boston  Latin  School  is  a 
public  school,  though  it  receives  those  pupils  only  whose  homes 
are  within  the  limits  of  the  city.  The  first  is  a  private  school 
because  it  was  founded  by  President  Wheelock,  and  has  been  con- 
trolled by  him  and  his  successors,  holding  and  governing  and  en- 
joying through  him,  from  the  first  until  now ;  while  the  Boston 
Latin  School  is  a  public  school,  because  it  was  established  by  the 
city  of  Boston,  through  the  votes  of  its  inhabitants,  under  the  laws 
of  the  state,  and  is  at  all  times  subject,  in  its  government  and  ex- 
istence, to  the  popular  will  which  created  it.  ...  In  the  pri- 
vate school,  with  a  self-perpetuating  board  of  trustees,  the  temptation 
is  strong  to  make  the  organization  subservient  to  some  opinion  in 
politics,  religion,  or  social  life.  This  may  not  always  be  done  ; 
but  in  many  cases  it  has  been  done,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  ex- 


THE  FIRST  HIGH  SCHOOLS  321 

poet  different  things  in  the  future.  I  concur,  then,  unreservedly 
in  the  judgment  which  has  placed  this  institution,  in  all  its  inter- 
ests and  in  all  its  duties,  under  the  control  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Bernard  ston."  * 

These  opposing  arguments  are  presented  for  their  historical 
rather  than  their  controversial  value.  It  may  be  added  that 
I  the  Norwich  Free  Academy  has  had  and  continues  to  have  a 
!  highly  successful  career.  At  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  said 
|  to  have  inaugurated  any  general  movement  toward  the  estab- 
llishment  of  privately  managed  secondary  schools  as  the 
|  direct  continuation  of  city  systems  of  elementary  instruction. 
I  There  is  evidently  room  in  our  systems  of  public  education 
for  more  than  one  type  of  secondary -school  organization. 
More  than  that,  there  is  evident  need  of  schools  of  different 
types  for  the  satisfaction  of  diverse  wants  and  the  attainment 
of  various  public  ends.  But  the  characteristic  tendency  of 
the  past  half-century  is  undoubtedly  seen  in  the  upward  ex- 
tension of  public  elementary  schools  into  public  high  schools. 

The  making  of  these  schools  represents  a  high  develop- 
ment of  the  spirit  of  co-operation.  The  earlier  academy 
movement  was  a  missionary  enterprise  —  a  bringing  to  the 
people  of  something  for  the  people's  good.  The  spirit  which 
it  embodied  is  one  of  the  finest  things  in  all  the  world,  a 
mainstay  of  our  hopes  for  the  betterment  of  human  life. 
The  high  schools  on  the  other  hand  appeal  less  to  imagi- 
nation and  sentiment.  Their  promoters  did  not  set  about 
doing  good  to  the  people,  but  rather  undertook  to  work  with 
all  the  people  for  the  common  good.  Here,  too,  we  touch  on 
one  of  the  finest  things  in  all  the  world,  the  spirit  which 
draws  men  together  in  a  common  pursuit  of  the  public  wel- 
fare. And  this,  too,  must  have  its  place  —  a  first  place, 
is  it  not  ?  —  in  all  our  hope  for  better  things.  All  of  our 
best  institutions,  it  should  be  added,  the  best  of  either  sort 
and  of  every  sort,  go  back  to  that  precious  foundation  stone 
of  our  American  life,  the  free  initiative  of  high-minded  indi- 
vidual citizens. 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  187-195. 
21 


S22         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES 

The  following  works,  referred  to  in  this  chapter,  are  not  included  in  the 
general  bibliography: 

GRISCOM,  JOHN.  A  year  in  Europe,  comprising  a  journal  of  observations 
in  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  France,  Switzerland,  the  north  of  Italy, 
and  Holland.  In  1818  and  1819.  2  vols.  New  York,  1823. 

STEVEN,  WILLIAM,  D.D.  The  history  of  the  high  school  of  Edinburgh. 
Edinburgh,  1849. 

Further  information  on  some  of  the  subjects  with  which  the  chapter  deals 
may  be  found  in  JOSIAH  QUINCY'S  Municipal  history  of  the  town  and  city 
of  Boston  (1852)  ;  in  EDMUND  QUINCY'S  Life  of  Josiah  Quincy  (Boston  : 
Ticknor  and  Fields,  1867);  and  in  DR.  JOHN  H.  GRISCOM'S  Memoir  of 
John  Griscom,  LL.D.,  late  professor  of  chemistry  and  natural  philosophy ; 
with  an  account  of  the  New  York  High  School ;  Society  for  the  Prevention 
of  Pauperism  ;  the  House  of  Refuge ;  and  other  institutions.  Compiled 
from  an  autobiography,  and  other  sources.  (New  York :  Robert  Carter 
and  Brothers,  1859.) 


CHAPTER  XV 
SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS 

THE  two  leading  types  of  American  secondary  school  are 
now  before  us.  Their  rivalry  and  interplay  have  lent  much 
of  interest  to  our  education  of  this  grade  during  the  past  two 
generations.  But  the  period  that  we  now  have  under  con- 
sideration was  marked  by  the  appearance,  in  a  smaller  way, 
of  other  schools,  some  of  them  variants  from  the  academy, 
and  some  of  them  representatives  of  older  European  types. 

In  some  portions  of  the  present  territory  of  the  United 
States,  the  beginnings  of  Catholic  education  date  far  back  in 
the  period  preceding  the  Revolution.  The  earlier  annals 
of  Louisiana,  for  example,  show  some  stray  gleams  of  strong 
educational  interest.  Father  Cecil,  a  Capuchin  monk,  is  said 
to  have  opened  a  school  for  boys  in  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  seminary  of  the  Ursuline  nuns 
near  New  Orleans  was  opened  in  1727,  and  seems  to  have 
exercised  a  very  beneficent  influence  on  the  early  life  of  the 
colony.1 

After  the  Revolution,  the  immigration  of  Roman  Catholics 
of  various  nationalities,  chiefly  Irish  at  first,  assumed  con- 
siderable proportions.  By  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  influx  of  Catholic  candidates  for  American  citi- 
zenship, Irish,  German,  and  others,  became  so  large  as  to  cause 
great  political  disturbances.  As  soon  as  possible  after  the 
setting  up  of  their  diocesan  government  in  this  country  (1790), 
the  Catholics  went  about  the  opening  of  parochial  schools, 
together  with  institutions  of  secondary  education  and  semi- 
naries for  the  training  up  of  young  men  for  the  priesthood. 

1  FAY,  Education  in  Louisiana,  ch.  1. 


324          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Their  schools  of  secondary  education  were  generally  estab- 
lished under  the  direction  of  various  teaching  orders. 

The  Jesuits  had  made  long-continued  efforts  to  keep  alive 
Catholic  educational  institutions  in  Maryland.  One  of  the 
most  notable  of  their  achievements  in  colonial  times  was 
the  conduct  of  a  school  at  Bohemia  Manor,  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Here  Charles  Carroll  of  Carroll- 
ton,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  edu- 
cated, together  with  his  cousin,  John  Carroll,  the  first 
Catholic  Bishop  of  Baltimore.  John  Carroll  received  his 
later  training  in  Europe,  at  the  Jesuit  college  of  St.  Omer, 
and  himself  entered  the  order.  He  returned  to  America 
shortly  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war  for  independence. 
At  this  time  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  not  only  in  disfavor 
with  some  of  the  chief  civil  powers  of  Europe,  but  was  under 
the  ban  of  the  church  as  well.  Such  Jesuits  as  remained  in 
Maryland  appeared  only  in  the  capacity  of  secular  priests. 

Father  Carroll  earnestly  desired  a  seminary  for  theological 
training,  and  he  at  one  time  held  the  opinion  that  the  classi- 
cal preparation  needed  by  prospective  priests  might  very  well 
be  secured  in  such  secondary  schools  as  were  already  at 
hand.  As  a  result  of  travels  through  the  new  states  and 
conversation  with  others  of  the  same  faith,  his  attitude  in 
this  matter  changed.  He  became  convinced  that  the  exist- 
ing academies  were  so  intensely  Protestant  that  young 
Catholics  could  not  attend  them  without  danger  to  their 
Catholic  principles.  He  accordingly  took  steps  looking  to 
the  establishment  not  only  of  a  seminary  for  the  recruitment 
of  the  priesthood,  but  also  of  a  classical  school.  The  out- 
come was  Georgetown  Academy. 

The  chapter  convened  by  Dr.  Carroll  at  Whitemarsh,  in 
1786,  framed  the  following  resolves,  by  way  of  a  beginning : 

"1.  That  a  school  be  erected  for  the  education  of  youth,  and 
the  perpetuity  of  the  body  of  clergy  in  this  country. 

"  2.  That  the  following  plan  be  adopted  for  the  carrying  the 
same  into  execution : 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  325 


"PLAN   OF  THE   SCHOOL 

"  1.  In  order  to  raise  the  money  necessary  for  erecting  the  afore- 
said school,  a  general  subscription  shall  be  opened  immediately. 

"  2.  Proper  persons  shall  be  appointed  in  different  parts  of  the 
continent,  West  India  Islands,  and  Europe,  to  solicit  subscriptions 
and  collect  the  same. 

"  3.  Five  Directors  of  the  school,  and  the  business  relative 
thereto,  shall  be  appointed  by  the  General  Chapter. 

"4.  The  moneys  collected  by  subscription  shall  be  lodged  in 
the  hands  of  the  aforesaid  Directors. 

"  5.  Masters  and  tutors  to  be  procured  and  paid  by  the  Directors 
quarterly,  and  subject  to  their  direction. 

"TERMS   OF  THE   SCHOOL. 

"  1.    The  students  shall  be  boarded  at  the  Parents'  expense. 

"  2.  The  pension  for  tuition  shall  be  £10  currency  per  annum, 
and  is  to  be  paid  quarterly,  and  always  in  advance. 

"  3.  With  the  pension  the  students  shall  be  provided  with  mas- 
ters, books,  paper,  pens,  ink  and  firewood  in  the  school. 

"  4.  The  Directors  shall  have  power  to  make  further  regulations, 
as  circumstances  may  point  out  necessary."  ] 

Before  the  academy  could  be  fully  established,  the  District 
of  Columbia  had  been  set  apart  as  the  seat  of  the  national 
government,  and  the  site  selected  for  the  school  was  found 
to  occupy  a  very  advantageous  position  of  proximity  to  the 
capital  city.  A  suitable  building  was  erected,  and  the  insti- 
tution was  opened  in  September,  1791.  It  was  virtually  a 
school  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  start ;  and  after  the  rehabili- 
tation of  the  order  it  was  placed  under  their  management, 
in  1805.  In  1815  it  was  authorized  by  Congress  to  grant 
academic  degrees. 

The  first  student  enrolled  in  the  Georgetown  Academy 
was  William  Gaston,  afterwards  distinguished  in  public 

1  Memorial  of  the  first  centenary  of  Georgetown  College,  p.  10. 


326          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

life.  During  the  first  years  of  its  existence,  the  school 
seems  to  have  been  intended  especially  if  not  exclusively 
for  Catholic  students.  About  1796  it  was  thrown  open 
freely  to  those  of  other  faiths,  and  began  to  receive  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Protestants.  The  two  sons  of  Bushrod 
Washington  were  sent  to  it.  A  notable  day  in  the  early 
history  of  the  school  was  the  occasion  of  a  visit  from  George 
Washington.  The  Father  of  his  Country  was  greeted  with 
enthusiasm.  A  formal  address  of  welcome  was  delivered, 
and  a  commemorative  poem  was  read  by  Eobert  Walsh. 

In  the  meantime,  Bishop  Carroll's  desire  for  a  seminary 
had  been  satisfied,  a  small  company  of  Sulpitians  having 
established  such  an  institution  at  Baltimore  in  1791.  The 
Sulpitians  also  established  St.  Mary's  College  at  Baltimore, 
which  was  chartered  by  the  Maryland  legislature  in  1805.1 

The  Academy  of  the  Visitation  was  opened  at  George- 
town in  1798,  and  entered  upon  a  career  of  large  influence 
in  the  education  of  girls.  There  is  much  of  human  interest 
in  the  early  history  of  this  school  which  has  been  well 
brought  out  in  the  published  accounts  of  its  career.  The 
three  "  pious  ladies "  by  whom  it  was  established  encoun- 
tered endless  difficulties,  and  it  was  not  till  eighteen  years 
after  the  beginning  that  their  conventual  life  was  fully 
settled.2 

A  little  later  there  began  another  widely  influential  Cath- 
olic movement  for  the  education  of  girls,  the  story  of  which 
is  also  full  of  interest.  Mrs.  Seton,  the  wife  of  an  American 
merchant,  was  travelling  with  her  husband  in  Italy,  when 
his  death  left  her  a  widow  among  strangers  and  far  from 
her  native  land.  She  was  treated  with  much  kindness,  and 
after  a  time  became  a  convert  to  Catholicism.  After  her 
return  to  her  American  home,  she  sought  for  ways  in  which 
she  might  be  of  service  to  the  church  and  useful  to  those 
about  her.  The  accounts  which  have  been  handed  down 
represent  her  as  a  woman  of  unusually  high  character  and 

1  Centenary  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  pp.  1-11. 
8  LATUROP,  A  story  of  courage. 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  327 

intelligence,  and  of  great  efficiency  in  the  management  of 
affairs.  She  gathered  a  few  girls  about  her  for  instruction. 
Then  a  gift  of  land  near  Emmitsburg,  for  educational  pur- 
poses, opened  a  way  for  the  enlargement  of  her  plans.  She 
organized  the  American  society  of  Sisters  of  Charity  (1811). 
The  house  of  this  order,  at  Emmitsburg,  soon  came  into  high 
favor  as  a  place  for  the  education  of  girls ;  and  colonies  of 
sisters  were  sent  out  from  it  to  organize  similar  establish- 
ments in  different  portions  of  the  country.  They  took 
charge  of  Nazareth  Academy  near  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  as 
early  as  1812.  St.  Mary's  Academy,  in  New  York  City,  was 
opened  by  them  in  1835.1 

Bardstown,  Kentucky,  became,  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  a  great  centre  of  Roman  Catholic  influence  in  the 
west.  The  diocese  of  Bardstown  was  erected  in  1808.  In 
addition  to  Nazareth  Academy,  already  referred  to,  Loretto 
Academy,  for  girls ;  Calvary  Academy,  also  for  girls  ;  and  St. 
Joseph's  College  and  Seminary,  were  established  in  or  near 
Bardstown  within  the  ten  or  twelve  years  next  following. 

A  summary  of  Catholic  education  in  this  country  in  1830 
shows  that  it  was  then  represented  by  seven  ecclesiastical 
seminaries,  ten  colleges  and  collegiate  institutions,  several 
academies  for  boys,  twenty  nunneries  to  which  female 
academies  were  attached,  besides  numerous  primary  and 
charity  schools.  The  Catholic  population  of  the  country 
was  then  estimated  at  about  half  a  million.  Considerable 
aid  had  been  received  from  Europe  for  the  promotion  of 
Catholic  education.2 

The  Jesuits  steadily  increased  the  range  of  their  activity, 
as  time  went  on,  in  the  domain  of  both  secondary  and  colle- 
giate education.  They  were  prominent  in  the  early  Catho- 
lic movement  in  Kentucky.  In  1846  the  Kentucky  Jesuits 
were  invited  by  Bishop  Hughes  (afterwards  the  first  Arch- 

1  BRUNOWB,  A  famous  convent  school.  CONSIDINE,  Chronological  account, 
p.  15. 

a  Quarterly  Register  and  Journal  of  the  American  Education  Society,  II., 
p.  229. 


328          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

bishop  of  New  York),  to  take  charge  of  the  new  St.  John's 
College  at  Fordham,  which  has  been  an  important  centre  of 
Jesuit  educational  activity  since  that  time.  This  institution, 
formally  opened  by  Bishop  Hughes  in  1841,  was  at  first 
under  the  presidency  of  Father  McCloskey,  who  later 
became  the  first  American  cardinal.  It  was  empowered 
to  grant  academic  degrees  in  1846.1 

A  Catholic  seminary,  erected  at  Mt.  St.  James,  near  Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts,  in  1840,  by  Father  James  Fitton,  a 
missionary  priest,  became  in  1843  the  College  of  the  Holy 
Cross.  It  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  the  Jesuit 
Fathers,  and  was  incorporated  by  the  state  in  1865.  It  is 
the  oldest  Catholic  college  in  New  England.2 

An  institution  which  has  exercised  a  great  influence  over 
Catholic  secondary  and  higher  education  in  the  western 
states,  the  University  of  Notre  Dame,  at  Notre  Dame, 
Indiana,  was  founded  in  1842  by  the  Superior  General  of 
the  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Cross.  It  was  incorporated 
by  the  legislature  of  Indiana  in  1844.3 

The  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  members  of  one 
of  the  most  notable  European  orders  established  for  the 
education  of  children,  opened  their  first  school  on  this 
continent  at  Montreal,  in  1838.  Soon  after  they  are  found 
in  Baltimore  and  in  New  York.  The  Brothers,  while  engag- 
ing actively  in  the  conduct  of  elementary  schools  in  this 
country,  early  entered  the  field  of  secondary  education. 
Their  De  La  Salle  Academy  was  opened  in  New  York  in 
the  year  1848.  They  established  the  Academy  of  the  Holy 
Infancy  at  Manhattan ville  in  1853.  Ten  years  later  this 
institution  was  raised  to  collegiate  rank,  receiving  a  charter 
under  the  title  of  Manhattan  College.4 

Numerous  other  schools  of  secondary  or  combined  secon- 
dary and  higher  education  were  organized  before  the  Civil 

1  CONSIDINE,  Chronological  account,  pp.  15-19;  TAAFE,  St.  John's  College, 
passim  ;  Catalogue  of  the  college. 

2  Historical  sketch  of  the  College  of  the  Holy  Cross. 
8  Catalogue  of  the  University. 

*  RAVELET,  Blessed  de  la  Salle>  passim  ;  CONSIDINE,  op.  cit.,  pp.  22-23, 
25-26. 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  329 

War,  under  the  management  of  the  societies  already  referred 
to,  or  of  other  religious  orders  within  the  Catholic  church,  or 
of  the  secular  clergy  of  that  church. 

In  the  second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  convent 
schools  for  girls  seem  to  have  come  to  wide  popularity,  not 
only  among  Catholics,  but  in  some  Protestant  circles  as 
well.  It  would  be  impossible  in  this  sketch  to  mention  by 
name  any  considerable  number  of  these  schools.  But  two 
or  three  may  be  referred  to  in  addition  to  such  as  have 
already  been  named. 

The  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  of  Namur  were  first  established 
in  this  country  at  Cincinnati  in  1840.  A  community  of 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  was  settled  in  New  York  in  1841, 
under  the  government  of  Madame  de  Galitzin.  They  opened 
the  same  year  their  Academy  for  Young  Ladies,  which  was 
soon  removed  to  Astoria,  Long  Island,  and  then  to  Man- 
hattanville.  This  order  had  been  founded  by  Madame 
Barat,  in  Paris,  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
expressly  for  the  education  of  young  women.1  A  little 
later,  several  members  of  the  School  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame 
came  to  this  country  from  Bavaria  and  began  their  labors 
in  the  Institute  de  Notre  Dame  in  Baltimore.  They  had 
prepared  themselves  for  their  duties  by  taking  a  teachers' 
training  course,  and  passing  the  city  teachers'  examination 
in  Munich.  Their  society  was  incorporated  by  the  legis- 
lature of  Maryland,  in  1864,  for  educational  purposes.  A 
few  years  later,  they  secured  a  valuable  tract  of  land  in 
the  suburbs  of  Baltimore,  and  proceeded  to  erect  a  college 
for  women,  which  was  to  be  known  as  Notre  Dame  of 
Maryland.  This  college  was  empowered  to  grant  academic 
degrees,  by  act  of  the  legislature  in  1896.2 

The  schools  which  have  been  mentioned  were  probably 
among  the  best  of  the  earlier  Catholic  schools  for  young 
women,  though  no  attempt  is  here  made  to  estimate  their 

1  Life  of  the  Venerable  Madeleine  Barat,  chaps.  2,  8,  11,  and  12.  CONSI- 
DINE,  op.  cit.,  pp.  19-20. 

8  Letter  from  the  Directress  of  the  College,  and  the  Annual  catalogue. 


330         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

relative  standing.  It  is  not  clear  to  what  extent  the  ordi- 
nary convent  schools  in  the  earlier  days  gave  instruction  of 
a  secondary  grade.  A  good  deal  of  their  teaching  must  have 
been  such  as  would  now  be  called  elementary.  And  there 
was  probably  some  ground  for  the  complaint  that  they 
devoted  relatively  too  much  attention  to  the  mere  accom- 
plishments which  the  social  standards  of  the  time  required 
young  ladies  to  have  mastered,  and  not  enough  to  such 
solid  learning  as  was  thought  fit  for  boys. 

We  may  readily  conclude,  however,  from  the  crusade 
against  pettiness  in  girls'  education  which  was  waged  by 
Emma  Willard  and  Mary  Lyon  and  those  who  thought  and 
wrought  with  them,  that  convent  schools  were  not  the  only 
schools  found  wanting  in  this  respect.  Noah  Webster,  writ- 
ing of  Connecticut  in  1806,  referred  to  "academies  for 
young  ladies,  in  which  are  taught  the  additional  branches  of 
needlework,  drawing,  and  embroidery."  These  pursuits 
were  referred  to  as  additional  to  the  ordinary  academy 
studies  ;  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  more  attention  was  paid, 
in  many  cases,  to  the  trimmings  than  to  the  foundation 
material  of  an  education.  Catholic  schools  for  girls  and 
those  of  other  denominations  and  of  no  denomination  as 
well,  have  been  making  their  way  painfully  out  from  under 
the  domination  of  petty  ideals  during  the  past  two  genera- 
tions. An  interesting  part  in  this  movement  has  been  borne 
by  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  of  Namur,  whose  first  estab- 
lishment in  this  country  was  briefly  noted  above.  Forty- 
three  convents  are  now  maintained  by  these  sisters,  with 
numerous  schools  and  colleges.  Their  labors  have  recently 
culminated  in  the  establishment  of  Trinity  College  in 
Washington,  which  has  been  described  as  "  the  first  fully 
equipped  college  for  girls  under  Catholic  influence."1 

The  forward  movement  in  Catholic  secondary  education 
which  has  taken  place  within  the  generation  just  past  will 
be  noticed  in  a  later  chapter.2 

1  Cf.  A  golden  jubilee  of  education. 

8  I  am  indebted  to  the  Right  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Conaty,  Rector  of  the 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  331 

Among  the  several  Protestant  denominations,  during  the 
period  we  have  been  considering,  the  conviction  was  gaining 
ground  that  religious   differences  ought  not  to  divide  our 
people  in  the  great  national  concern  of   public   education. 
The  early  high  schools  and  many  of  the  contemporary  acad- 
emies were  much  alike  in  that  a  positive  religious  element 
was  present  in  them,  while  they  were  still  undenominational 
in  character.     The  Catholics  objected  to  such  schools  on  the 
ground  that  their  "  undenominationalism  "  was  in  fact  unde- 
nominational Protestantism.    To  most  Protestants  and  to 
many  other  citizens  having  no  religious  affiliations,  such 
schools  appeared   to  give  the  strongest   assurance   of   the 
maintenance  of  religious  freedom,  and  so  in  the  end  of  politi- 
cal freedom.    There  came,  in  time,  to  be  among  our  people 
a  really  passionate  devotion  to  the  public  schools,  as  embody- 
ing such  hopes   and   aspirations  as  these,  and  this  feeling 
greatly  promoted  the  building  up  of  our  public  high  schools. 
Yet   the   several   Protestant   denominations   were   never 
unanimous  in  their  attitude  toward  schools  and  education, 
and  in  the  most  of  them  earnest  efforts  were  put  forth  to 
secure  the  establishment  and   maintenance    of   denomina- 
tional schools.     These  efforts  met,  too,  with  a  large  measure 
of  success.     The  secondary  schools  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal church  may  be  taken  as  representative  of  this  move- 
ment.    They  were   making   interesting   beginnings   in   the 
earlier  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.     But  since  the  build- 
ing up  of  highly  influential  Episcopalian  schools  is  one  of 
the  marked  characteristics  of  the  period  following  the  Civil 
War,  a  consideration  of  this  topic  will  be  deferred  till  we 
come  to  the  chapter  on  Kecent  Tendencies. 

Daniel  Defoe's  project  of  a  military  academy  found  a 
far-away  realization  in  the  establishment  of  such  an  institu- 
tion by  our  national  government,  at  West  Point,  in  1802. 

Catholic  University  of  America,  for  helpful  suggestions  in  connection  with 
the  sketch  of  Catholic  secondary  education  begun  in  this  chapter  and  contin- 
ued in  chapter  XVIII. 


332          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR   MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  impressive  centennial  celebration  of  our  Military  Acad- 
emy is  a  recent  memory.  This  school  was  hardly  more 
than  an  establishment  for  military  apprenticeship  during 
the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence.  Then,  under  stress  of 
war,  and  in  accordance  with  repeated  recommendations  of 
a  few  far-sighted  men,  the  institution  was  made  into  some- 
thing more  like  a  school  of  engineering  and  military  science. 

Within  the  next  few  years  some  strong  men  found  a 
place  in  its  corps  of  instruction.  Claude  Crozet  became 
professor  of  engineering.  It  is  claimed  that  he  first  intro- 
duced the  use  of  the  blackboard  into  this  country,  besides 
making  other  important  improvements  in  his  branch  of  in- 
struction at  the  Military  Academy.  Captain  Alden  Par- 
tridge, an  early  graduate  of  the  institution,  after  officiating 
for  a  time  as  professor  of  mathematics,  and  later  of  engineer- 
ing, became  superintendent  of  the  Academy.  He  was  a 
man  of  ideas  and  of  personal  force  ;  but  he  was  not  in 
harmony  with  the  policy  laid  down  for  the  institution,  and 
in  1817  he  was  succeeded  in  the  superintendency  by  Major 
Sylvanus  Thayer.  Major  Thayer  was  at  the  head  of  the 
institution  for  sixteen  years,  and  did  much  to  bring  it  up  to 
that  high  place  which  it  has  now  held  for  many  years.1 

The  plan  of  instruction  at  West  Point  took  strong  hold 
upon  many  intelligent  minds.  A  system  of  education  which 
could  send  out  so  vigorous  and  efficient  a  type  of  manhood, 
was  deemed  worthy  of  wider  application.  So  the  national 
Military  Academy  came  to  have  a  numerous  progeny.  Its 
ideals  influenced  the  instruction  in  the  Central  High  School 
of  Philadelphia  and  the  New  York  Free  Academy ;  and 
other  military  schools  were  organized  in  several  places. 

Captain  Partridge,  after  his  resignation  from  the  army, 
founded  in  1819  the  "  American  Literary,  Scientific  and 
Military  Academy,"  which  has  had  a  migratory  and  varied 
existence.  It  was  first  established  at  Norwich,  Vermont. 
It  was  removed  to  Middletown,  Connecticut,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Norwich.  In  1866  it  was  again  removed,  to 

1  PARK,  West  Point  and  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy,  passim. 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  333 

Northfield,  Vermont,  where  it  still  abides.  It  was  chartered 
in  1834  as  Norwich  University.  From  1850  to  1880  it  was 
conducted  under  Episcopalian  auspices.  Then  it  became 
non-sectarian,  and  for  four  years  bore  the  title  of  Lewis  Col- 
lege. Its  old  name  was  restored  in  1884,  and  it  was  made 
virtually  a  state  military  institution. 

The  fact  that  Admiral  Dewey  was  educated  in  this  school 
has  brought  it  prominently  before  the  public  in  recent  years. 
The  founder,  Captain  Partridge,  seems  to  have  been  deeply 
impressed  with  the  value  of  a  military  training,  and  to  have 
possessed  some  remarkable  qualifications  for  the  position  of 
leader,  instructor,  and  commander  of  boys.     But  h'is  plan 
of  education  was  conceived  on  such  a  scale  that  it  could  not 
well  be   carried   into   full   execution.     The   announcement 
which  he  issued  in  1820  declared  his  intention  to  offer  a 
course  of  instruction  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  French, 
and  English  languages ;   in  composition,  logic,  history,  and 
ethics  ;  and  in  an  immense  range  of  subjects  coming  within 
the  general  scope  of  mathematics,  physics,  engineering,  and 
military  science.     He  added  that,  "The  military  exercises 
and  duties  will  be  so  arranged  as  not  to  occupy  any  of  the 
time  that  would  otherwise  be  devoted  to  study ;   they  will 
be  attended  to  at  those  hours  of  the  day  which  are  generally 
passed  by  students  in  idleness,  or  devoted  to  useless  amuse- 
ments, for  which  they  will  be  made  a  pleasing  and  health- 
ful substitute." 

Another  of  the  substitutes  for  "  useless  amusements  "  pro- 
vided in  this  academy  was  an  occasional  long  tramp  across 
the  country.  Captain  Partridge's  expeditions  of  this  sort, 
which  he  led  in  person,  were  in  high  favor  with  his  boys. 
One  of  them  even  extended  from  Middletown  all  the  way  to 
the  National  Capital.  Whether  consciously  or  not,  Captain 
Partridge  was  carrying  into  practice  Milton's  proposal  that 
young  men  should  travel  over  their  own  land  and  become 
acquainted  with  its  military  and  industrial  advantages.1 

i  ELLIS,  Norwich  University,  passim.  Captain  Partridge's  criticism  of  the 
education  prevalent  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Norwich  Academy 
is  given  iii  the  Am.  Jouni.  JEd.t  XIII.,  pp.  54-56. 


334          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  military  type  of  education  soon  came  into  high  favor 
in  the  southern  states.  Captain  Partridge  founded  the 
Virginia  Literary,  Scientific,  and  Military  Institute  at  Ports- 
mouth, in  1839.  The  same  year  the  Virginia  Military  Insti- 
tute was  established  at  Lexington,  following  the  general 
lines  of  the  Academy  at  West  Point.  This  West  Point  of 
the  south  has  had  a  remarkable  history,  which  is  almost  as 
well  known  as  that  of  our  national  Academy.  General 
Francis  H.  Smith  was  for  many  years  at  its  head,  and  gave 
it  its  academic  organization.  His  long  service  is  held  in 
honored  memory.  And  with  it  is  joined  the  memory  of  the 
ten-year  instructors  hip,  so  diversely  significant  to  the  insti- 
tution, of  that  indifferent  teacher  and  consummate  soldier, 
Stonewall  Jackson.1 

The  South  Carolina  Military  Academy  was  established  in 
1842.  It  has  been  shown  that  its  earlier  history  was  closely 
interwoven  with  the  political  history  of  the  state.  Military 
stores  had  been  gathered,  in  the  Arsenal  at  Columbia  and 
the  Citadel  at  Charleston,  to  provide  against  possible  public 
needs.  The  Nat  Turner  insurrection  and  the  Nullification 
troubles  a  little  later  had  suggested  such  provision.  A  guard 
was  maintained  at  state  expense  at  each  of  these  posts,  until 
some  far-sighted  citizens  conceived  the  idea  that  the  money 
devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  such  guards  might  profitably 
be  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  military  schools,  the  cadets 
being  then  charged  with  the  duty  of  mounting  guard  as 
might  be  necessary.  A  similar  project  had  been  carried  into 
effect  at  the  Virginia  Military  Institute.  The  Academy 
was  organized  upon  these  lines,  and  consisted  of  the  Citadel 
school  at  Charleston  and  the  Arsenal  school  at  Columbia. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  closing  of  this  academy,  in  1864,  its 
graduates  numbered  two  hundred  and  forty,  including  four 
who  became  brigadier  generals.  Hugh  S.  Thompson,  the 
distinguished  governor  of  the  state  and  member  of  the 

1  Official  Reg^ter  of  the  Institute.  Interesting  reminiscences  of  this  Insti- 
tute appear  in  a  rlcent  work,  The  end  of  an  era,  by  JOHN  S.  WISE.  (Boston  : 
Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Company,  1901.) 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  335 

national  Civil  Service  Commission,  was  a  graduate  of  the 
school  in  the  class  of  1856.1 

Military  education  soon  came  to  great  popularity  in  the 
south,  and  schools  of  this  sort  were  multiplied  before  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  Our  national  provision  for 
military  education  received  a  much  needed  rounding-out  in 
the  establishment  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  in 
1845.  This  act  renders  memorable  the  term  of  George 
Bancroft  in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy.2 

Another  movement  which  assumed  considerable  propor- 
tions in  the  earlier  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  that 
having  for  its  object  the  union  of  studies  with  manual  labor. 
There  was  much  in  the  educational  thought  of  the  latter  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century  which  pointed  the  way  to  such  a 
movement.  The  doctrines  of  Eousseau  and  the  earlier  ex- 
periments of  Pestalozzi  suggest  themselves  at  once.  But  a 
more  immediate  prompting  came  from  the  labors  of  Philip 
Ernanuel  Fellenberg,  sometime  companion  and  fellow-laborer 
with  Pestalozzi. 

Fellenberg  has  been  pretty  generally  forgotten  in  this 
country,  but  two  or  three  generations  ago  his  influence  here 
was  very  great.  Sympathizing  as  he  did  with  the  educa- 
tional aspiration  of  Pestalozzi,  his  character  and  methods 
were  very  different.  It  is  small  wonder  that  the  two 
could  not  long  work  together.  In  1806  Fellenberg  opened 
an  institution  at  Hofwyl,  in  Switzerland,  for  school  instruc- 
tion in  combination  with  manual  labor  in  the  field.  His 
students  devoted  their  mornings  to  study  and  their  after- 
noons to  farming.  The  Hofwyl  Institute  continued  its  op- 

1  MERIWETHER,  Higher  education  in  South  Carolina,  ch.  4  ;  THOMAS,  His- 
tory of  the  South  Carolina  Military  Academy,  passim. 

2  See  SOLEY,  The  United  States  Naval  Academy ;  BENJAMIN,  T 
States  Naval  Academy.  R  . . 

The  early  history  of  our  Military  and  Naval  Academies  overlaps  1 
of  both  secondary  and  higher  education.     These  earlier  institutions,  bow. 
led  the  way  to  the  establishment  of  a  class  of  military  schools  of  pur 
secondary  grade  after  the  time  of  the  Civil  War. 


336          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

erations  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  commanded  the  attention 
of  the  best  men,  the  world  over,  who  were  interested  in 
educational  reform. 

The  name  of  Fellenberg  appears  in  some  American  schools 
which  were  established  within  this  period,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  American  movement  received  much  of  its 
impetus  directly  from  Hofwyl.  But  the  sentiment  which 
inspired  it  did  not  all  emanate  from  Fellenberg.  We  find 
some  breathings  of  it  in  this  country  before  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  notably  in  Judge  Phillips'  plan  for 
the  academy  at  Andover.  It  was  indeed  in  the  air  of  both 
Europe  and  America  at  that  time.1 

Among  the  many  consequences  of  the  theoretical  "  return 
to  nature,"  was  the  growth  of  a  desire  to  bring  those  higher 
human  interests  which  found  expression  in  art  and  litera- 
ture, into  touch  with  the  common  affairs  of  life.  Men  and 
women  who  had  gone  far  in  the  self-conscious  "  culture  "  of 
the  age,  felt  a  homesickness  for  the  work-a-day  world  which 
they  had  left  behind.  Something  of  this  sort  is  observable 
in  the  Brook  Farm  experiment,  in  which  the  notion  of  a 
union  between  education  and  manual  labor  found  its  most 
interesting  embodiment.  It  is  a  sentiment  oft-recurring  in 
human  history,  but  it  never  quite  found  itself  till  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  gave  it  a  place  in  the  world 
of  thought. 

There  was  another  side  to  this  sentiment.  Those  who 
are  at  home  with  the  plain  people  of  this  land,  particu- 
larly with  such  as  carry  into  their  daily  work-of-hands  a 
steady  aspiration  after  the  things  of  the  spirit,  must  have 
observed  among  them  a  habit  of  thought  which  has  close 
connection  with  that  noted  above :  a  fine  loyalty  to  their 

1  Eleazar  Wheelock  had  his  students  who  were  preparing  to  become  mission- 
aries among  the  Indians  initiated  into  the  practical  knowledge  of  husbandry. 
Diary  of  David  McOlure,  p.  7.  This  was  in  1764. 

At  Cokesbury  College,  located  at  Abingdon,  Maryland  (1785-1795),  the 
first  Methodist  college  in  the  world,  the  students  were  not  allowed  to  play, 
but  instead  were  exercised  in  agriculture,  taken  in  connection  with  the  reading 
of  Vergil's  Georgics,  and  in  architecture  and  gardening.  STEINER,  Cokesbury 
College,  p.  21. 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  337 

daily  associations  which  prompts  them  to  wish  that  the 
higher  interests  may  be  found  somehow  bound  up  with  the 
actualities  of  their  experience,  and  not  set  apart  in  a  sep- 
arate world.  The  poems  of  Eobert  Burns  interpreted  this 
feeling.  In  their  different  kinds  and  degrees,  a  goodly 
number  of  later  writers  have  done  such  a  service  in  our 
own  generation ;  while  in  the  domain  of  art  it  has  found 
very  noble  expression  in  the  better  work  of  our  modern 
realists.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  this  sentiment 
combined  with  others  to  give  popularity  to  the  manual 
labor  schools  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

•Ifc  was  in  the  third  arid  fourth  decades  of  that  century  that 
the  manual-labor  education  movement  was  at  its  height. 
The  survey  of  Education  and  literary  institutions  *  already 
referred  to  tells  of  institutions  of  this  sort  at  Eeadfield, 
Maine  (the  Maine  Wesleyan  Seminary),  at  Manchester, 
Vermont,  at  Eochester  and  Whitestown,  New  York,  at 
Sergeantville,  New  Jersey  (Mantua  Manual  Labor  Institute), 
at  Wake  Forest,  North  Carolina  (projected  by  Baptists  and 
soon  to  be  opened),  at  Haymount,  North  Carolina  (a  similar 
institution,  founded  by  the  Presbyterians),  at  Marietta,  Ohio, 
and  in  various  other  sections  of  the  country.  Provision  for 
manual  labor  in  connection  with  several  colleges  is  also  re- 
ported. There  seems  to  have  been  especial  interest  in  the 
effort  to  put  theological  students  at  work  in  field  and  shop, 
partly  with  a  view  to  defraying  a  portion  of  the  expense  of 
their  education,  and  partly  with  the  thought  that  they 
might  thus  be  brought  into  touch  with  actualities.  ^ 

The  enthusiasm  for  manual  labor  schools  subsided  in  the 
eighteen-hundred  forties,  more  because  of  the  practical  diffi- 
culties which  the  project  involved  than  because  of  any  doubt 
as  to  its  inherent  excellence.2  But  the  idea  has  not  been 
wholly  lost.  It  has  entered  into  the  scheme  of  agricultural 
education  embodied  in  the  Morrill  Act  of  1862 -an  a 
through  which  our  national  government  has  prc 

1  Quarterly  Register,  May,  1833. 

2  Of.  MERIWETHER,  Higher  education  in  South  Carolina,  p.  51. 

22 


THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

influenced  the  higher  education  of  the  country.  It  has 
entered  also  into  the  manual  training  movement  of  later 
years :  a  very  different  movement,  to  be  sure,  but  one  which 
accomplishes  some  of  the  ends  which  the  earlier  movement 
set  out  to  accomplish.  And  the  manual  labor  school  itself 
has  survived  or  been  revived  in  a  few  institutions  of  our 
own  time,  as  in  the  Miller  Manual  Labor  School,  opened  in 
1878,  in  Albemarle  County,  Virginia. 

The  Swiss  reformers  had  a  large  following  in  this  country 
before  influences  of  a  strictly  German  origin  had  begun  to 
be  widely  felt.  It  was  not  until  the  thirties  or  forties  of 
the  nineteenth  century  that  German  ideas  gained  currency 
here,  and  the  full  force  of  the  German  example  was  hardly 
felt  till  after  the  revolutionary  disturbances  of  1848.  Yet 
some  connection  with  German  culture  had  been  established 
in  earlier  years. 

George  Ticknor  and  Edward  Everett  had  visited  Europe, 
and  studied  at  the  University  of  Gottingen.  They  brought 
back  something  of  the  German  spirit,  to  the  quickening  of 
Harvard  College.  Joseph  Green  Cogswell  had  also  gone  to 
Gottingen  in  1816,  and  George  Bancroft  in  1818.  Other 
travellers  gave  occasional  hints  of  the  German  universities 
and  public  schools.  The  first  real  opening  of  American 
eyes  to  the  importance  of  German  educational  theory  and 
practice  came,  however,  in  the  midst  of  the  Educational 
Eevival.  The  English  translation  of  Victor  Cousin's  report 
on  Prussian  schools  was  widely  circulated  in  this  country. 
The  report  of  observations  at  first  hand  by  Calvin  E.  Stowe 
(1836),  Alexander  Dallas  Bache  (1839),  and  Horace  Mann 
(1843)  greatly  deepened  this  impression.  The  University  of 
Michigan,  under  the  guidance  of  President  Tappan,  availed 
itself  freely  of  suggestions  drawn  from  the  practice  of  Ger- 
man universities.  The  German  example  influenced  our 
elementary  schools,  not  so  much  in  those  days  by  any 
infusion  of  German  methods,  as  by  the  suggestions  of 
German  organization  and  of  the  German  provision  for 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  339 

universality  of  instruction.  In  our  secondary  education, 
too,  there  was  very  little  direct  imitation  of  German  models, 
but  the  stimulus  of  German  excellence  began  to  prick  the 
American  spirit  of  emulation. 

There  were  numerous  schools  opened  during  this  period 
under  purely  private  management.  Educational  ideas, 
whether  European  or  American  in  their  origin,  were  play- 
ing merrily  upon  the  minds  of  men.  The  prompting  to 
educational  experiment  came  out  in  school  undertakings, 
some  of  them  sane  and  wholesome,  some  whimsical,  and  the 
most  of  them  full  of  human  interest.  Only  a  few  of  these 
private  schools  can  be  mentioned  here  without  overcrowding 
the  chapter,  and  the  bare  mention  must  suffice  in  the  case  of 
those  referred  to. 

George  Bancroft  and  Joseph  Green  Cogswell  established 
the  Eound  Hill  School  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  an 
institution  which  was  intended  to  transplant  into  this  coun- 
try the  best  traditions  of  the  great  secondary  schools  of  Ger- 
many, France,  and  England.  Some  of  Fellenberg's  ideas, 
too,  had  their  influence  on  this  undertaking.  Bancroft  with- 
drew from  the  school  in  1830,  but  it  was  continued  under 
Dr.  Cogswell  through  the  six  years  following.  It  saw 
varying  fortunes,  both  educational  and  financial,  but,  so 
long  as  it  lasted,  it  never  sank  to  the  commonplace,  never 
failed  to  be  interesting  and  significant.1 

The  classical  school  of  Mr.  Christopher  Cotes  at  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina  (about  1820  to  1850),  filled  an  impor- 
tant place  in  the  education  of  that  region.     Its  pupils  c; 
from  families  prominent  because  of  their  wealth  and 
station,  and  the  school  came  to  be  regarded  as  an  t 
cratic  institution.     Mr.  Cotes  was  an  Englishman,  ai 

i  BELLOWS,    The  Round  Hill  School;  COGSWELL  and  BANCROFT ^  Pro- 
spectus  of  a  school.     There  are  delightful  notes  on  this  schW  ** 
MiTCHEli/H  African  lands  and  letters  ^  36  ft  ^g^JJ 
Green  Cogswell.     Still  others  are  yven  by  Horace  E ,  Scudde    m 
classical  schools.     See  Harpers  Monthly,   L\  .,  p.  / 
to  reminiscences  in  T.  G.  Appleton's  A  sheaf  of  papers. 


340          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

precedents  of  the  English  public  schools  dominated  his  sys- 
tem of  instruction.  He  could  not  share  the  American  taste 
for  oratory  of  the  revolutionary  type,  and  such  declamation 
as  his  boys  went  through  was  a  perfunctory  affair,  at  least 
so  far  as  the  master  was  concerned.  Thorough  instruction 
in  the  studies  preparatory  to  college ;  sound  training  in 
algebra  under  the  master  himself ;  the  employment  of  good 
assistant  teachers ;  French  taught  by  a  born  Frenchman ; 
the  use  of  philosophical  apparatus,  including  a  large  tele- 
scope ;  a  faithful  application,  on  occasion,  of  a  good  birch 
rod:  such  are  some  of  the  characteristic  features  of  this 
school,  as  recalled  by  Dr.  G.  E.  Manigault.1 

Gideon  F.  Thayer  established  the  Chauncy  Hall  School, 
in  the  city  of  Boston,  in  1828.  This  school  was  projected  on 
an  unusually  large  scale  for  the  time.  It  is  said  that  divis- 
ion of  labor  among  the  several  instructors  was  carried  fur- 
ther than  in  any  other  private  school  in  New  England. 
Even  before  this  school  was  opened,  Mr.  Thayer,  in  an 
earlier  educational  undertaking,  had  introduced  the  use  of 
apparatus  for  physical  exercise.  The  Chauncy  Hall  School 
was  supported  wholly  by  tuition  fees,  but  many  poor  boys 
were  educated  there  free  of  charge.  Mr.  Thayer's  connec- 
tion with  the  school  ceased  in  1855.2 

"  The  Gunnery  "  was  established  by  Frederick  W.  Gunn, 
at  Washington,  Connecticut,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eigh- 
teen-hundred  thirties.  There  was  in  it  so  much  of  aboli- 
tionism and  other  radical  tendencies  that  it  aroused  great 
opposition,  and  was  for  a  time  discontinued.  It  was  re- 
opened in  1847,  and  had  a  picturesque  and  generally 
remarkable  career.  Its  characteristics,  as  they  were  under 
Mr.  Gunn's  administration,  were  set  forth  by  Mr.  J.  G.  Hol- 
land in  his  story  of  Arthur  Bonnicastle.  Senator  0.  H. 
Platt  taught  for  a  time  with  Mr.  Gunn ;  and  Henry  Ward 

1  MERIWETHER,  Higher  education  in  South  Carolina,  pp.  30-37.     Dr.  Man- 
igault's  reminiscences  are  full  of  interest.     Paul  H.  Hayne,  the  poet,  was  for 
a  time  a  pupil  in  this  school. 

2  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  IV.,  pp.  613-621  ;  GUSHING,  Historical  sketch. 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  341 

Beecher,  Mrs.  Stowe,  and  General  John  C.  Fremont  were 
among  the  prominent  patrons  of  the  Gunnery  in  its  earlier 
days.1 

A  chapter  which  began  with  notes  on  the  rise  of  Catholic 
schools  may  fitly  close  with  some  account  of  the  founding 
of  Girard  College.  For  this  school,  though  founded  by  a 
man  of  Catholic  antecedents,  represents  in  many  ways  the 
antithesis  of  the  Catholic  view  of  education.  It  illustrates 
the  profound  movement  in  American  education  away  from 
ecclesiastical  ideals.  And  because  it  set  forth  the  non-ecclesi- 
astical view  in  perhaps  the  most  extreme  embodiment 
which  it  had  found  on  American  soil,  it  called  forth  an 
extensive  controversial  literature,  and  so  had  its  part  in 
shaping  educational  convictions. 

Stephen  Girard,  "  Mariner  and  Merchant,"  was  a  man  of 
the  hard-headed,  thrifty,  and  benevolent  type  that  seems  in 
those  days  to  have  found  its  true  home  in  the  city  of 
William  Penn  and  Benjamin  Franklin.  It  was  early  in  the 
revolutionary  struggle  that  Girard  came  from  his  French 
home  to  Philadelphia,  a  young  man  then  in  his  twenties. 
Ho  soon  became  one  of  the  influential  business  men  of  the 
town.  It  is  said,  but  the  statement  is  open  to  doubt,  that 
he  was  the  first  American  to  become  a  millionaire.  When  he 
died,  in  1831,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  the  estate  which- 
he  left  was  valued  at  not  far  from  $7,500,000.  He  set 
an  example,  which  American  millionaires  have  been  re- 
markably ready  to  follow,  of  the  devotion  of  vast  sums  of 
money  to  public  education.  It  is  not  only  the  magnitude 
of  his  educational  endowment,  but  the  marked  characteris- 
tics of  the  institution  founded  upon  it,  which  call  for  notice 
in  this  chapter. 

This  French-American  was  familiar  with  the  revolution- 
ary French  philosophy  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Four  of 
his  ships  were  named  the  Eousseau,  the  Voltaire,  the  Hel- 
vetius,  and  the  Montesquieu.  The  secular  spirit  of  this 

1  See  STEINER,  Education  in  Connecticut,  pp.  59-61. 


342         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

philosophy  found  in  him  a  ready  response.  That  he  was 
not  positively  hostile  to  religion  is  shown  by  his  contribu- 
tions to  various  religious  societies.  But  he  was  an  ardent 
believer  in  the  American  doctrine  of  religious  freedom  ;  and 
he  deplored  sectarian  controversy.  He  was  in  sympathy 
with  that  rising  sentiment  which  exalted  morals  above 
dogmatic  religion.  The  educational  realism  of  Rousseau 
and  Kousseau's  followers  fell  in  with  his  shrewd  common 
sense ;  and  quite  as  naturally,  he  was  interested  in  seeing 
boys  trained  up  for  occupations  in  which  they  might  earn 
an  honest  livelihood. 

Such  was  the  man  who  in  addition  to  legacies  to  the 
public  schools  of  Philadelphia  and  various  benevolent  in- 
stitutions already  in  existence,  and  in  addition  to  other  lega- 
cies to  relatives  and  dependents,  bequeathed  over  two 
million  dollars  for  the  founding  of  an  institution  devoted  to 
the  maintenance  arid  education  of  poor,  male,  white,  orphan 
children.  The  fund  was  given  in  trust  for  this  purpose  to 
the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  citizens  of  Philadelphia. 

The  paragraph  of  the  will  relating  to  the  studies  of  the 
college  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  given  in  full. 
"  They  shall  be  instructed,"  it  reads,  "  in  the  various 
branches  of  a  sound  education,  comprehending  reading,  writ- 
ing, grammar,  arithmetic,  geography,  navigation,  surveying, 
practical  mathematics,  astronomy ;  natural,  chemical  and 
experimental  philosophy,  the  French  and  Spanish  languages, 
(I  do  not  forbid,  but  I  do  not  recommend  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages)  —  and  such  other  learning  and  science  as 
the  capacities  of  the  several  scholars  may  merit  or  warrant : 
I  would  have  them  taught  facts  and  things,  rather  than 
words  or  signs ;  and  especially,  I  desire,  that  by  every 
proper  means  a  pure  attachment  to  our  Republican  Institu- 
tions, and  to  the  sacred  rights  of  conscience,  as  guaranteed 
by  our  happy  constitutions,  shall  be  formed  and  fostered  in 
the  minds  of  the  scholars." 

The  provision  for  non-ecclesiastical  management  of  the 
institution  is  expressed  in  the  following  terms: 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  343 

"  I  enjoin  and  require  that  no  ecclesiastic,  missionary,  or  minis- 
ter of  any  sect  whatsoever,  shall  ever  hold  or  exercise  any  station  or 
duty  whatever  in  the  said  College ;  nor  shall  any  such  person 
ever  be  admitted  for  any  purpose,  or  as  a  visitor,  within  the  prem- 
ises appropriated  to  the  purposes  of  the  said  college  : —  In  making 
this  restriction,  I  do  not  mean  to  cast  any  reflection  upon  any  sect  or 
person  whatsoever ;  but  as  there  is  such  a  multitude  of  sects,  and 
such  a  diversity  of  opinion  amongst  them,  I  desire  to  keep  the 
tender  minds  of  the  orphans,  who  are  to  derive  advantage  from 
this  bequest,  free  from  the  excitement  which  clashing  doctrines  and 
sectarian  controversy  are  so  apt  to  produce  ;  my  desire  is,  that  all 
the  instructors  and  teachers  in  the  College,  shall  take  pains  to  instil 
into  the  minds  of  the  scholars,  the  purest  principles  of  morality,  so 
that,  on  their  entrance  into  active  life,  they  may  from  inclination 
and  habit,  evince  benevolence  toward  their  fellow  creatures,  arid  a 
love  of  truth,  sobriety,  and  industry,  adopting  at  the  same  time, 
such  religious  tenets  as  their  matured  reason  may  enable  them  to 
prefer." 

Many  difficulties  were  encountered  in  getting  this  unique 
institution  under  way.  The  buildings  for  its  habitation, 
begun  in  1833,  were  not  finished  till  1847.1  The  directors 
appointed  under  the  trust  invited  Francis  Lieber,  another 
eminent  immigrant,  to  draw  up  a  constitution  for  the  pro- 
posed college.  This  commission  was  executed  with  great 
care,  after  a  study  of  the  literature  of  various  educational 
and  eleemosynary  institutions  of  England  and  the  Continent. 
Professor  Lieber  recommended  that  the  college  be  made  a 
polytechnic  school  and  a  seminary  for  the  training  of  teach- 
ers; and  he  urged  upon  the  directors  the  importance  of 
sending  a  special  commissioner  to  Europe  to  make  an  exami- 

1  Mr.  Girard,  like  Thomas  Jefferson,  interested  himself  in  plans  for  the 
housing  of  the  institution  which  he  founded.  He  left  minute  specifications 
regarding  the  buildings  to  be  first  erected.  Mr.  Thomas  U.  Walter,  the  architect 
who  was  entrusted  with  the  carrying  out  of  these  plans,  succeeded,  in  spite  of 
the  limitations  imposed,  in  producing  a  very  noble  group  of  buildings  on 
classical  lines.  This  is  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the  earlier  attempts  in 
this  country  to  work  out  an  extensive  and  unitary  architectural  composition. 
Mr.  Walter  was  later  charged  with  the  remodelling  of  the  Capitol  at  Washing- 
ton, a  work  in  which  he  achieved  a  magnificent  success. 


344          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

nation  in  person  of  such  institutions  as  might  throw  light 
upon  their  undertaking. 

In  accordance  with  this  suggestion,  Alexander  Dallas 
Bache  was  appointed  to  the  presidency  of  the  college,  and 
was  dispatched  on  a  tour  of  investigation  among  the  leading 
European  countries.  Professor  Bache  devoted  two  years  to 
this  preliminary  inquiry.  The  report  of  his  observations, 
published  soon  after  his  return,  was  not  only  of  great  value 
to  the  institution  which  he  represented,  but  proved  also  one 
of  the  most  important  of  those  accounts  of  European  edu- 
cation which  did  so  much  toward  the  great  Educational 
Awakening  in  America. 

The  next-of-kin  to  Stephen  Girard  made  an  effort  to  break 
the  will,  so  far  as  it  related  to  the  endowment  of  the  college, 
and  their  claim  was  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  This  case  was  the  more  notable  from 
the  fact  that  Daniel  Webster  was  of  the  counsel  for  the 
plaintiffs,  and  the  decision  of  the  court  was  rendered  by 
Justice  Joseph  Story.  The  court  unanimously  sustained 
the  validity  of  the  trust.  The  next-of-kin  had  based  their 
claim  in  part  upon  the  contention  that  the  foundation  of  a 
college  on  such  principles  and  exclusions  as  Mr.  Girard  had 
laid  down  was  derogatory  to  the  Christian  religion  and 
therefore  void,  as  being  against  both  the  common  law  and 
public  policy.  The  court  decided  against  this  contention. 
It  held  that: 

"The  exclusion  of  all  ecclesiastics,  missionaries,  and  ministers 
of  any  sort  from  holding  and  exercising  any  station  or  duty  in  a 
college,  or  even  visiting  the  same ;  or  the  limitation  of  the  in- 
struction to  be  given  to  the  scholars,  to  pure  morality,  general 
benevolence,  a  love  of  truth,  sobriety,  and  industry;  are  not  so 
derogatory  and  hostile  to  the  Christian  religion  as  to  make  a  devise 
for  the  foundation  of  such  a  college  void  according  to  the  constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  Pennsylvania." l 

1  Vidal  et  al.  v,  Girard's  executors,  2  Howard  127.  The  decision  was 
handed  down  in  the  January  term,  1844. 


SPECIAL  MOVEMENTS  345 

On  New  Year's  day  of  1848  the  college  was  opened,  under 
the  presidency  of  Joel  Jones.  Its  educational  organization 
was  under  three  divisions,  namely,  primary  schools,  nos.  1  and 
2,  and  the  "  principal  department."  In  the  department  last 
named,  instruction  was  given  in  some  of  the  higher  branches 
of  an  English  education,  and  in  the  French  and  Spanish 
languages.1 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

On  early  Catholic  schools  : 

CLEMENTS,  JAMES.     History  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.     2  vols.    Baltimore : 

John  Murphy  &  Co.,  1878. 

Historical  sketch  of  the  College  of  the  Holy  Cross.     Worcester,  Massa- 
chusetts.    1843-83.     Worcester:  Press  of  Charles  Hamilton,  1883. 

Pp.  43. 
1791-1891.     Memorial  volume  of  the  centenary  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary  of 

St.  Sulpice,  Baltimore,  Md.     Baltimore :  John  Murphy  &  Co.,  1891. 

Pp.  8  + 164. 
RAVELET,  ARMAND.     Blessed  J.  B.  de  la  Salle,  founder  of  the  Institute  of 

the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools.     Paris,  1888.     Pp.  32  +  694. 
The  life  of  the  Venerable  Madeleine  Barat,  foundress  of  the  Society  of  the 

Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.    Drawn  and  abridged  from  the  French  by  Lady 

Georgiana  Fullerton.    New  York  :  O'Shea  &  Co.,  1900.    Pp.  10  +  403. 

See  also  titles  under  BRUNOWE,  CONSIDINE,  Notre  Dame  University, 

Georgetown  College,  St.  Francis  Xavier  College,  St.  John's  College,  and 

Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  in  the  general  bibliography. 

Notices  of  the  Papal  Church  in  the  United  States.     In  quarterly  Register 

and  Journal  of  the  American  Educational  Society,  II.,  pp.  189-199. 
Notices  of  the  Papal  Church  in  the  United  States.     In  The  Quarterly 

Register  of  the  American  Education  Society,  III.,  pp.  88-100. 
The  principal  source  of  the  information  presented  in  these  two  articles  is 
the  Annales  de  V  Association  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi. 
Historical  and  statistical  view  of  Roman  Catholics  in  the  United  States. 

Prepared  for  the  Quarterly  Register  and  Journal,  chiefly  from  original 

sources  and  from  special  correspondence.     In  Quarterly  Register,  etc., 

II.,  pp.  220-229. 

i  Description  of  the  Girard  College,  passim.     Semi-centennial  of  Girard 
College,  passim. 


346          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  three  titles  last  given  refer  to  Protestant  accounts  of  the  Catholic 
educational  movement,  contemporary  with  an  early  stage  of  that  move- 
ment. 

Father  Considine  (pp.  cit.,  p.  5)  refers  to  the  expressed  purpose  of 
Bishop  Spalding  of  Peoria  to  secure  the  preparation  of  a  general  history 
of  Catholic  education  in  the  United  States,  and  adds  that  the  carrying  out 
of  the  plan  has  been  committed  to  Brother  Maurelian,  F.S.C.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  this  design  may  be  carried  to  a  happy  completion.  Brother 
Maurelian  was  manager  of  the  Catholic  educational  exhibit  at  the  World's 
Fair  of  1893,  and  compiled  an  important  Catalogue  of  that  exhibit. 

On  the  doctrines  and  practice  of  Fellenberg,  we  have  an  interesting 
anonymous  volume : 

Letters  from  Hofwyl  by  a  parent,  on  the  educational  institutions  of  de 
Fellenberg.  With  an  appendix  containing  Woodbridge's  sketches  of 
Hofwyl,  reprinted  from  the  Annals  of  Education.  London  :  Longman, 
Brown,  Green,  and  Longmans,  1842.  Pp.  12  +  372. 

The  writer  calls  attention  to  articles  on  the  same  subject  in  vols.  XXXI. 
and  XXXII.  of  the  Edinburgh  Review.  See  also : 

Educational  establishment  of  Mr.  de  Fellenberg,  at  Hofwyl.  In  Am. 
Journ.  Ed.,  III.,  pp.  591-596  ;  and 

Outline  of  the  normal  course  of  instruction  at  Hofwyl.  Id.,  XIII.,  pp. 
323-331. 


CHAPTEE  XVI 
LATER   STATE   SYSTEMS 

HOWEVER  important  other  educational  systems  and  educa- 
tional movements  may  have  been,  the  general  trend  of  the 
nineteenth  century  set  strongly  in  the  direction  of  an  educa- 
tion under  the  control  of  public  corporations.  There  has 
been  another  tendency,  intimately  connected  with  this.  The 
demand  for  systems  of  schools  under  full  public  control  has 
carried  with  it  the  demand  for  consecutiveness.in  our  state 
systemsjjf  education,  from  the  lowest  grades  to  the  highest. 
We  have  been  moving  toward  an  ideal  somewhat  like  that 
of  the  Einheitssclmle.  We  have  found  ourselves  more  or  less 
consciously  striving  toward  the  standard  set  up  by  Huxley 
when  he  said,  "No  system  of  public  education  is  worth  the 
name  of  national  unless  it  creates  a  great  educational  ladder, 
with  one  end  in  the  gutter  and  the  other  in  the  university." 
These  aspirations  have  come  to  their  most  complete  expres- 
sion in  states  having  state  universities  —  but  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  states  in  the  Union  are  of  this  class.  They  are 
aspirations  which  have  grown  up  with  a  new  ideal  of  social 
relations,  a  new  democracy,  which  in  its  full  development  is 
peculiar  to  the  nineteenth  (and  the  twentieth)  century. 
We  saw  that  in  the  old  colony  days  the  nej3QJj)La_middle- 
P.  Ycp.pt  for  those  intended  for  college  and 


for  one  of  the  learned  professions,  was  not  generallx-recog- 
njzeiL-  Society  was  still  largely  organized  on  distinct  levels. 
People  still  spoke  of  "  the  quality."  That  is,  the  difference 
between  the  professional  and  directive  class  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  common  people  on  the  other  was  apparently  accepted 
as  qualitative,  in  a  sense  that  we  hardly  realize.  The  col- 


348 


THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


leges,  with  the  grammar  schools  leading  up  to  them,  were 
for  the  higher  class.  The  educational  provision  for  the  lower 
classes  extended  only  to  schools  of  elementary  grade,  and 
was  very  scanty  and  fragmentary  at  best.  Between  the  two 
systems  there  was  no  organic  connection. 

TJ^r^filujtiojaary  period  and  the  years  next  following  saw, 
a  gradual  breaking  up  of  the  earlier  social  strata,  and  the 
rise^p^a^jmoMle^class  to  prominence  and  influence.  The 
newly  recognized  educational  needs  of  this  class  were  now 
met  by  the  academies,  especially  in  such  of  their  courses  as 
did  not  aim  at  preparation  for  college. 

f  With  the  advance  of  nineteenth  and  twentieth  century 
I  democracy,  the  social  levels  of  earlier  days  have  been  upset. 
I  No  one  speaks  of  social  classes  now,  unless  it  be  under  his 
7  breath.  Our  present-day  society  knows  no  levels  :  we  recog- 
/  nize  no  generic  distinction  between  its  several  grades.  Its 
extremes  may  be  much  farther  apart  than  were  those  of  an 
earlier  age,  but  the  lowest  and  the  highest  occupy  their  sev- 
eral places  in  one  continuous  gradation  of  social  differences. 
**-*  The  lovers  of  diagrammatic  representationfwhose  number 
is  not  at  all  declining,  may  find  in  the  following  scheme  a 
passable  symbol  of  the  change  which  has  taken  place : 


I.    Colonial  society. 
— 4b 
d 


II.  Society  of  the  middle  period. 
h 


III.    Society  of  the  later  times. 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  349 

The  old  grammar  schools  were  for  those  on  the  plane  a  b 
and  for  such  as  were  making  their  way  up  to  that  eminence. 
The  earlier  academies  were  for  those  on  this  same  plane, 
now  represented  by  the  line  g  h,  but  were  in  particularly  in- 
timate connection  with  the  restless  middle  line  ij,  which  has 
already  lost  its  sense  of  the  horizontal.  The  high  schools 
belong  out  and  out  to  this  jostling  middle  line,  which  at  an 
early  day  has  imposed  its  own  slanting  disposition  on  the 
other  members  of  the  scheme.  There  is  little  need  to  add 
that  the  diagram  at  best  can  tell  but  a  small  part  of  the 
story  ;  or  to  raise  the  insistent  question  of  our  time  :  After 
the  line  m  n,  what  next  ? 

This  brief  survey  of  social  change  may  help  us  a  little  to 
understand  some  things  which  have  a  bearing  on  our  subject. 
It  suggests  one  cause  of  that  extreme  restlessness  which 
characterizes  our  modern  society.  On  this  social  inclined 
plane,  whoever  is  not  on  his  way  to  the  top  is  perforce  on 
his  way  to  the  bottom.  Our  systems  of  education  have 
gradually  adjusted  themselves  to  such  a  state  of  things. 
There  has  appeared  accordingly  a  widespread  purpose  to  link 
our  schools  together  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  ;  to  put 
every  kindergarten  dfel  primary  school  on  a  line  which 
leads,  without  by-way  or  break,  straight  up  to  the  university. 

This  purpose  haf  come  only  gradually  to  full  conscious- 
ness ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  century  the  ideal  proposed  in 
the  Indiana  state  constitution_of_  1816  __has.  become  the  char- 
acteristic aim  or~A'merIcan  ^educational  organization  :  "A 
general  system  of~educatioh,  ascending  in  regular  gradation 

u  a  sLaleruniversity  wherein 


tuition  sTialT¥e~gratfs"  and  equally  open  to  alT^  Such  a 
pJ3pose~Tiar~tDr^^  only  *n  tne 

educational  schemes  of  our  statesmen  and  teachers,  but 
in  legislative  enactments.  A  few  citations  will  serve  for 
illustration. 

The  legislature  of  Tennessee  declared,  in  1817,  that,  "  In- 
stitutions of  learning,  both  academies  and  colleges,  should 
ever  be  under  the  fostering  care  of  this  legislature,  and  in 


350          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

their  connection  with  each  other  form  a  complete  system  of 
education."1 

Thomas  Jefferson,  replying  to  the  charge  that  he  was  push- 
ing university  education  to  the  neglect  of  the  elementary 
schools,  wrote  to  Mr.  Cabell : 

"  Nobody  can  doubt  iny  zeal  for  the  general  instruction  of  the 
people.  Who  first  started  that  idea1?  I  may  surely  say  myself. 
Turn  to  the  bill  in  the  revised  code  which  I  drew  more  than  forty 
years  ago,  and  before  which  the  idea  of  a  plan  for  the  education  of 
the  people  generally  had  never  been  suggested  in  this  State.  There 
you  will  see  developed  the  first  rudiments  of  the  whole  system  of 
general  education  we  are  now  urging  and  acting  on  ;  and  it  is  well 
known  to  those  with  whom  I  have  acted  on  this  subject  that  I  have 
never  proposed  a  sacrifice  of  the  primary  to  the  ultimate  grade  of 
instruction.  Let  us  keep  our  eye  steadily  on  the  whole  system" 

President  Henry  P.  Tappan,  of  the  University  of  Michigan, 
presented  a  statesmanlike  report  to  the  regents  of  that  insti- 
tution, in  1856,  in  which  he  discussed  the  "true  position" 
of  the  university,  "  and  its  relation  to  our  entire  system  of 
public  education."2  He  said: 

"An  entire  system  of  public  educati^^bomprises  three  grades 
and  can  comprise  but  three  grades  :  the  primary,  the  intermediate, 
and  the  university.  .  .  .  The  primary,  scnr)ol  comes  first.  .  .  . 
All  human  learning  begins  with  the  alphabet.  .  .  . 

"The  second  grade  occupies  the  period  of  youth  —  of  adolescence 
or  growth.  This  is  the  period  when  the  foundations  of  knowledge 
and  character  can  be  most  amply  and  securely  laid.  .  .  . 

"  But  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  intermediate  grade  embraces 
only  the  apprenticeship  of  the  scholar.  .  .  .  Hence  the  necessity 
of  universities,  as  the  highest  form  of  educational  institutions.8  .  .  . 

1  Quoted  by  BLACKMAR,  Federal  and  state  aid,  p.  265. 

2  The  text  of  this  report  may  be  found  in  Superintendent  Ira  Mayhew's 
Reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of  Michigan  for 
the  years  1855-6-7  :  with  accompanying  documents.     Lansing,  1858,  pp.  155- 
184. 

8  President  Tappan's  definition  of  a  university,  which  follows  this  para- 
graph, is  significant.  It  marks  a  great  change  from  the  view  of  a  college 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  351 

"  The  highest  institutions  are  necessary  to  supply  the  proper 
standard  of  education  ;  to  raise  up  instructors  of  the  proper  qualifi- 
cations ;  to  define  the  principles  and  methods  of  education.  .  .  . 

"  Nothing  is  more  evident  than  that  the  three  grades  of  educa- 
tion —  the  primary,  the  intermediate,  the  university  —  are  all  alike 
necessary.  The  one  cannot  exist,  in  perfection,  without  the  others ; 
they  imply  one  another.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  to  the  honor  of  Michigan  that  she  has  conceived  of  a  com- 
plete system  of  public  education  running  through  the  three  grades 
we  have  discussed  above.  Nor  do  these  grades  exist  merely  in 
name.  She  has  established  the  primary  grade  of  schools  and  made 
them  well  nigh  free.  She  has  laid  the  foundation  of  an  institution 
which  admits  of  being  expanded  to  a  true  university.  In  former 
days  she  had  her  '  branches '  belonging  to  the  intermediate  grade ; 
and  now  we  see  rising  up  those  invaluable  institutions,  the  '  union  " 
schools,'  belonging  to  the  same  grade.  We  say  not  that  legislation 
has  adequately  reached  the  entire  system,  or  made  provision  for  its 
development ;  but  the  idea  of  the  entire  system  is  abroad  among 
the  people ;  it  has  not  been  absent  from  our  legislation ;  it  has 
appeared  in  the  reports  of  superintendents  and  visitors,  and  in 
other  documents ;  and  the  people,  at  this  moment,  unaided  by  any 
special  appropriation,  are  organizing  above  the  district  school,  the 
best  schools  of  the  intermediate  grade,  less  than  a  college,  which 
have  yet  existed  among  us  ;  and  are  erecting  large,  tasteful,  and 
convenient  edifices  for  their  accommodation.  These  ideas,  spon- 
taneously working  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  these  spontaneous 
efforts  to  create  schools  of  a  higher  grade  must  determine  future 
legislation,  and  indicate  the  grand  point  to  which  our  educational 
development  is  tending." 

It  is  this  large  conception  of  education  as  one  great 
public  interest,  from  the  lowest  schools  to  the  highest, 
which  we  need  as  a  background  for  any  consideration  of 
the  development  of  state  systems  of  secondary  education. 
We  have  already  looked  into  the  establishment  of  those 
state  systems  in  which  the  educational  unit  was  the 

presented  by  President  Clap,  of  Yale  College,  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
President  Tappan  says,  "A  university  is  a  collection  of  finished  scholars  in 
every  department  of  human  knowledge,  associated  for  the  purpose  of  advanc- 
ing and  communicating  knowledge."  —  Op.  cit.,  p.  161. 


352          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

academy.     Such  systems  belong  to   the  latter  part  of  the 

eighteenth  and  the  earlier  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

|  The  great  movement  in  the  establishment  of  state_systems 

which  make  the  high  school  their  unit,  belongs  to  the  period 

I-  following  the  Civil  War.  But  highly  important  pioneering 
had  been  done  at  a  period  much  earlier  than  this. 
^  The  first  general  provision  for  anything  answering  to  our 
idjoa  nf  a,  higk  .school,  which  has  thus  far  come  to  light,  was 
contained  in  the  Gonnecti^ij]  ]«-w  nf  17Q£A  Previous  to  this 
time,  the  requirement  that  each  of  the  county  towns  should 
support  a  grammar  school  had  been  in  force.  This  require- 
ment was  now  discontinued.  In  its  place,  a  provision  was 
I  adopted  to  the  effect  that  any^ school  society  (district)  might 
I  by  a  two-thirds  vote  establish  a  higher  school.  "  tlie  object 
of  which  shall  be  to  perfect  the  youth  admitted  therein  in 
reading  and  penmanship,  to  instruct  them  in  the  rudiments 
of  English  grammar,  in  composition,  in  arithmetic,  and 
geography,  or,  on  particular  desire,  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages,  also  in  the  first  principles  of  religion  and  moral- 
ity, and  in  general  to  form  them  for  usefulness  and  happi- 
ness in  the  various  relations  of  social-  life." l  This  law 
*  seems  to  contemplate,  not  a  high  school  proper,  but  rather 
a  mixed  institution  —  an  advanced  primary  or  English 
grammar  school  for  the  most  of  the  pupils,  and  a  Latin 
grammar  school  for  a  select  few. 

A  similar  provision  had  been  adopted  two  years  earlier 
for  the  first  school  society  of  Farmington,  Connecticut,  but 
Latin  and  Greek  were  not  included  in  its  list  of  studies. 
This  was  to  be  a  central  school,  supported  by  a  pro  rata 
assessment  on  the  public  moneys  assigned  to  the  several 
districts  into  which  the  society  might  be  divided.2 

In   Massachusetts,  as    we  have  seen,  the  law  requiring 

/  grammar  schools  in  the  towns  was  so  far  weakened,  in  1824, 

I  that  towns  having  a  population  of  less  than  five  thousand  were 

\  allowed  to  substitute  for  such  school  an  elementary  school, 

if  the  people  should  so  determine  by  vote  at  a  public  elec- 

1  Kept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1892-93,  II.,  pp.  1253-54. 

2  Id.,  p.  1255. 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  353 

tion.  This  is  the  low-water  mark  of  public  school  senti- 
!  ment  in  Massachusetts,  with  reference  to  the  secondary 
grade  of  instruction.  In  1826_  it  was  enacted  that  every 
town  having  five  hundred  families  should  provide  a  master 
to  give  instruction  in  the  history  of  the  United  States,  book- 
keeping, geometry,  surveying,  and  algebra,  and  every  town 
having  four  thousand  inhabitants,  a  master  capable  of  giving 
instruction  in  Latin  and  Greek,  history,  rhetoric,  and  logic.1 
This  act  has  seen  some  vicissitudes  since  its  first  adoption, 
but  it  marks  the  beginning  of  continuous  provision  in  Mas- 
^aachnap.tts  fnr  a  state  system  of  high  sr.V|pn1s. 

It  is  difficult  to  trace  the  early  statutory  provisions  for 
high  schools  in  many  of  the  states.  At  the  time  when  the 
older  schools  of  this  sort  were  coming  into  being,  special 
legislation  was  not  held  in  such  disfavor  as  in  more  recent 
times.  The  high  schools,  as  institutions  of  the  municipali- 
ties, were  often  erected  under  special  statutes  and  charters 
framed  for  each  city  separately,  without  reference  to  any 
general  enactment,  or  even  to  any  general  principle.  Their 
legal  history  must  be  sought  for  in  the  maze  of  such  legis- 
lation. Yet  it  will  not  be  forgotten  that  through  just  such 
devious  ways  a  general  policy  of  the  states  with  reference 
to  such  institutions  was  gradually  built  up. 

In  some  instances  a  measure  drawn  in  the  first  place  for 
a  single  community  found  so  great  favor  that  it  was  made 
the  model  for  statutes  framed  for  the  benefit  of  other  com- 
munities, or  even  for  general  enactments.  For  example,  the 
"Akron  law,"  passed  by  the  Ohio  legislature  in  1847,  pro- 
vided for  a  graded  school  system  in  the  city  of  Akron, 
including  a  "  central  grammar  school,"  which  was  in  reality 
a  high  school.  The  provisions  of  this  act  were  immediately 
extended  to  the  city  of  Dayton,  and  in  1848  to  every  incor- 
porated town  or  city  in  the  state,  whenever  two-thirds  of 
the  qualified  voters  should  patition  the  town  or  city  council 
in  favor  of  such  extension.2 

1  Laws  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts^  ch.  143,  sec.  1. 

2  A  history  of  education  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  pp.  113,  114. 


23 


354          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

In  1848  the  third  district  in  Somers worth,  New  Hamp- 
shire, was  empowered  by  the  legislature  to  establish  and 
maintain  a  high  school.  Later  in  the  same  year,  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act  were  extended  to  all  school  districts  which 
might  adopt  it  in  regular  form ;  and  it  was  further  enacted, 
"that  any  school  district,  when  the  number  of  scholars 
should  exceed  100,  might  vote  to  keep  such  high  school  or 
schools  as  the  interests  of  education  might  require." l 

Other  general  enactments  appear  at  a  comparatively  early 
date.  They  were,  however,  permissive  in  their  provisions, 
and  not  compulsory  as  was  the  Massachusetts  law.  State 
Superintendent  Benton,  of  Iowa,  recommended  graded  or 
"union"  schools  in  1848;  and  legal  permission  for  the 
organization  of  higher  grades  in  the  public  schools  of  that 
state  was  granted  in  1849.  In  1857  more  ample  provision 
was  made  for  the  higher  schools,  "  provided  that  no  other 
language  than  the  English  shall  be  taught  therein,  except 
with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  "  of  the  board  of  educa- 
tion. The  general  school  law  of  1858  authorized  county 
high  schopls.2 

The  first  school  law  of  California,  adopted  in  1851T  pro- 
vided  for  the  establishment  of  high  schools  by  any  city, 
town,  or  village  having  more  than  four  hundred  scholars,  on 
petition  of  two-thirds  of  the  legal  voters  within  such  district, 
or  by  two  school  districts  which  might  unite  for  this  pur- 
pose while  remaining  separate  in  other  inspects.  Not  more 
t.Vifyri  npfi-fonrf-.il  r>f  frfre  state  and  ^i£ty/niQneys  received  by 
anjMJistrict  might  be  expended  for  the  support  of  such,  high 
schoola.  Districts  were  authorized  also  to  tax  themselves 
for  the  support  of  schools  of  this  grade,  but  might  not 
expend  for  this  purpose  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
amount  raised  by  local  taxation  for  schools.  High  schools 
were  required  under  this  act  to  teach,  in  addition  to  the 
studies  of  the  grammar  schools,  "  bookkeeping,  surveying, 
drawing,  music,  political  economy,  Greek  and  Latin,  equal 

1  BUSH,  History  ff  education  in  New  Hampshire,  p.  19. 

2  PARKER,  Higher  education  in  Iowa,  pp.  27,  31,  37. 


LATElR  STATE  SYSTEMS    ,  ^      355 


to  that  what  [sic]  is  required"  for  admission  into  college, 
Spanish  and  French." l  •  These  provisions  were  soon  sup- 
planted by  others  less  liberal  in  character,  but  the  early 
school  legislation  of  the  state  generally  made  a  way  for  pub- 
lic schools  of  this  grade. 

In  New  York  the  general  school  law  of  1864  authorized 
the  board  of  education  of  any  "union  free  school  district  to 
establish  in  the  same  an  academical  department  whenever,  in 
their  judgment,  the  same  is  warranted  by  the  demand  for  such 
instruction."  Such  academical  departments  were  made  sub- 
ject to  the  board  of  regents  in  all  matters  pertaining  to 
their  course  of  education,  and  were  to  enjoy  such  privileges 
in  the  university  as  had  been  granted  to  the  academies. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  formal  adoption  of  existing 
academies  by  boards  of  education,  and  the  transference  of 
institutions  so  adopted  from  private  to  public  control.2 

In  Maryland  the  old  state  academy  system  was  swept 
away  by  a  law  of  1865,  and  a  system  of  county  high 
schools  substituted  for  it.  But  the  change  was  too  radical 
to  be  fully  carried  out.  Later  legislation  provided  for  the 
renewal  of  state  aid  to  academies,  which  continued  to  exist 
alongside  of  theXsystem  of  county  high  schools.3 

While  such  ear^v  and  liberal  enactments  may  be  found  in 
a  few  of  the  statesMn  others  high  schools  wereg  established 
in  large  numbers  without  explicit  warrant  of  law.  The 
school  law  of  these  jutes  commonly  provided_in  general 
terinsjhat^  thej3tudie¥  toNbe'piirsued  should  be  determined  by 
the  jocaTboard  of^school  flm.stees~or  directors.  A  minimum 
list  of  studies  was  sometimes  prescribed  in  the  statute ;  and 
it  was  commonly  held  that  fite  school  board  might  provide 
for  the  teaching  of  other  subjects,  including  such  as  were 
distinctly  of  secondary  grade. 

Objection  was  made  repeatedly^  this  practice.     As  was 

1  California  statutes,  1851,  ch.  126,  art.  5,  sec^vS,  6,  7,  8  ;  art.  7,  sec.  2. 

a  HOUGH,  Historical  and  statistical  record  of  the  (Diversity  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  pp.  28,  29. 

8  SfLLEiis,  Secondary  education  in  the  state  of  Maryland  (Chapter  2  of 
STEINWI'S  History  if  education  in  Maryland),  pp.  66-68. 


356          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

seen  in  the  history  of  the  school  system  of  Virginia,1  the 
secondary  school  is  the  one  grade  of  instruction  which  has 
the  most  precarious  hold  on  public  Support.  The  question 
as  to  the  authority  of  local  boards  to  establish  high  schools 
without  express  statutory  provision  for  such  schools,  was 
finally  decided  in  the  affirmative  by  the  supreme  court  of 
Michigan  in  the  case  of  Charles  E.  Stuart  et  al.  vs.  School 
*v  District  No.  1  of  the  village  of  Kalamazoo,  commonly  known 
as  the  Kalamazoo  high  school  case.  Inasmuch  as  this  case 
established  the  precedent  for  similar  cases  in  other  states, 
while  setting  the  question  at  rest  for  the  state  of  Michigan, 
it  is  of  great  importance  in  the  annals  of  our  secondary 
education.  The  opinion  of  the  court  was  prepared  by  the 
eminent  jurist,  Thomas  M.  Cooley.  The_right  of  a  school 
board  to  employ  a  superintendent  of  schools  was  involved 
in  the  case,  and  this  also  was  affirmed  by  the  court.  The 
decision  in  this  case  illustrates  admirably  the  strong 
tendency  which  we  have  noted,  in  our  educational  history, 
toward  a  complete  system  of  schools,  largely  supported  by 
taxation,  and  under  public  control.  It  seems  fitting  for 
this  reason  that  space  be  devoted  here  to  the  following 
somewhat  extended  passages  from  the  opinion  rendered  by 
the  court : 2 

"  The  hill  in  this  case  is  filed  .to  restrain  the  collection  of  such 
portion  of  the  school  taxes  assessed  against  complainants  for  the 
year  1872,  as  have  been  voted  for  the  support  of  the  high  school  in 
that  village,  and  for  the  payment  of  the  salary  of  the  superin- 
tendent. While,  nominally,  this  is  the  end  sought  to  be  attained 
by  the  bill,  the  real  purpose  of  the  bill  is  wider  and  vastly  more 
comprehensive  than  this  brief  statement  would  indicate,  inasmuch 
as  it  seeks  a  judicial  determination  of  the  right  of  school  authorities, 
in  what  are  called  union  school  districts  of  the  state,  to  levy  taxes 
upon  the  general  public  for  the  support  of  what  iu  this  state  are 

1  See  p.  208,  note  2. 

2  30  Michigan  69.     The  text  of  the  decision  appears,  but  in  badly  mangled 
form,   in  the  Report  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of 
Michigan  for  the  year  1874. 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  357 

known  as  high  schools,  and  to  make  free  by  such  taxation  the 
instruction  of  children  in  other  languages  than  the  English." 

Certain  bearings  of  the  case,  which  are  of  local  rather 
than  general  interest,  are  discussed  at  considerable  length. 
The  court  then  continues  : 


"  The  more  general  question  which  the  record  presents  we  shall 
endeavor  to  state  in  our  own  language,  but  so  as  to  make  it  stand 
out  distinctly  as  a  naked  question  of  law,  disconnected  from  all 
considerations  of  policy  or  expediency,  in  which  light  alone  we  are 
at  liberty  to  consider  it.  It  is,  as  we  understand  it,  that  there  is 
no  authority  in  this  state  to  make  the  high  schools  free  by  taxation 
levied  on  the  people  at  large.  The  arguniefnt  is  that  while  there 
may  be  no  constitutional  provision  expressly  prohibiting  such 
taxation,  the  general  course  of  legislation  in  the  state  and  the 
general  understanding  of  the  people  have  been  such  as  to  require 
us  to  regard  the  instruction  in  the  classics  and  in  the  living  modern 
languages  in  these  schools  as  in  the  nature  not  of  practical  and 
therefore  necessary  instruction  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  at 
large,  but  rather  as  accomplishments  for  the  few,  to  be  sought  after 
in  the  main  by  those  best  able  to  pay  for  them,  and  to  be  paid  for 
by  those  who  seek  them,  and  not  by  general  tax.  And  not  only 
has  this  been  the  general  state  policy,  but  this  higher  learning  of 
itself,  when  supplied  by  the  state,  is  so  far  a  matter  of  private 
concern  to  those  who  receive  it  that  the  courts  ought  to  declare  it 
incompetent  to  supply  it  wholly  at  the  public  expense.  This  is  in 
substance,  as  we  understand  it,  the  position  of  the  complainants  in 
this  suit. 

"  When  this  doctrine  was  broached  to  us,  we  must  confess  to 
no  little  surprise  that  the  legislation  and  policy  of  our  state  were 
appealed  to  against  the  right  of  the  state  to  furnish  a  liberal  educa- 
tion to  the  ybuthjof  the  state  in  schools  brought  within  the  reach 
of  all  classes.  We  supposed  it  had  always  been  understood  in  this 
state  that  education,  not  merely  iu  the  rudiments,  but  in  an  enlarged 
sense,  was  regarded  as  an  important  practical  advantage  to  be 
supplied  at  their  option  to  rich  and  poor  alike,  and  not  as  some- 
thing pertaining  merely  to  culture  and  accomplishment  to  be 
brought  as  such  within  the  reach  of  those  whose  accumulated 


358          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

wealth  enabled  them  to  pay  for  it.  I  As  this,  however,  is  now  so 
seriously  disputed,  it  may  be  necessary,  perhaps,  to  take  a  brief 
survey  of  the  legislation  and  general  course,  not  only  of  the  state, 
but  of  the  antecedent  territory,  on  the  subject." 

The  review  of  the  educational  history  of  Michigan  which 
follows  is  full  of  interest.  It  includes  a  consideration  of 
the  educational  provision  contained  in  the  ordinance  of 
1787 ;  the  act  of  1817  for  the  establishment  of  the  "  Catho- 
lepistemiad  or  University  of  Michigania;"  the  university 
act  of  1821,  which  repealed  that  of  1817,  but  instituted  a 
university  with  power  "  to  establish  colleges,  academies,  and 
schools  depending  upon  the  said  university ; "  the  act  of 
1827,  "  for  the  establishment  of  common  schools,"  which 
followed  very  closely  the  early  state  and  colonial  school 
legislation  of  Massachusetts;  the  law  of  1833, which  neither 
required  nor  prohibited  the  establishment  of  a  higher  grade 
of  school;  the  constitution  of  1835,  which  provided  for  a 
state  university  with  branch  schools,  and  "  contemplated 
provision  by  the  state  for  a  complete  system  of  instruction, 
beginning  with  that  of  the  primary  school  and  ending  with 
that  of  the  university  ;  "  the  proposal  of  State  Superintendent 
Pierce  for  a  system  of  public  instruction  based  on  the 
systems  of  Prussia  and  New  England,  and  intended  to 
furnish  in  the  common  schools  "  good  instruction  in  all  the 
elementary  and  common  branches  of  knowledge,  for  all 
classes  of  [the]  community,  as  good,  indeed,  for  the  poorest 
boy  of  the  state  as  the  rich  man  can  furnish  for  his  children 
with  all  his  wealth  ;  "  the  discontinuance  of  the  branches  of 
the  university,  and  the  growth  of  the  union  schools,  which 
in  some  measure  took  their  place  ;  and  finally,  the  constitu- 
tion of  1850.  Of  this  last-named  document,  the  court 
remarks  that, 

"  The  instrument  submitted  by  the  convention  to  the  people 
and  adopted  by  them  provided  for  the  establishment  of  free 
schools  in  every  school  district  for  at  least  three  months  in  each 
year,  and  for  the  university.  By  the  aid  of  these  we  have  every 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  359 

reason  to  believe  the  people  expected  a  complete  collegiate  educa- 
tion might  be  obtained.  .  .  .  The  inference  seems  irresistible  that 
the  people  expected  the  tendency  towards  the  establishment  of 
high  schools  in  the  primary-school  districts  would  continue  until 
every  locality  capable  of  supporting  one  was  supplied.  And  this 
inference  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  a  considerable  number 
of  our  union  schools  date  their  establishment  from  the  year  1850 
and  the  two  or  three  years  following." 

The  opinion  of  the  court  as  to  the  legality  of  the  high 
school  is  finally  summed  up  in  the  following  words : 

"If  these  facts  do  not  demonstrate  clearly  and  conclusively  a 
general  state  policy,  beginning  in  1817  and  continuing  until  after 
the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution,  in  the  direction  of  free 
schools  in  which  education,  and  at  their  option  the  elements  of 
classical  education,  might  be  brought  within  the  reach  of  all  the 
children  of  the  state,  then,  as  it  seems  to  us,  nothing  can  demon- 
strate it.  We  might  follow  the  subject  further  and  show  that  the 
subsequent  legislation  has  all  concurred  with  this  policy,  but  it 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  and  labor.  We  content  ourselves  with 
the  statement  that  neither  in  our  state  policy,  in  our  constitution, 
or  in  our  laws,  do  we  find  thepriniary  school  districts  restrictedjo. 
tlie  branches  ofknowledge  ^yvhich  their  ^officers  may^  cause  to  be 
taught^  or  {lie  grade^  of  instruction  that  may  be  given,  if  their 
voters  consent  in  regular  form  to  bear  the  expense  and  raise  the 
taxes  for  the  purpose." 

One  of  the  most  notable  decisions  following  the  finding 
of  the  Michigan  court  in  this  case  was  that  of  the  su- 
preme court  of  Illinois  in  the  case  of  H.  W.  Powell  et  al. 
vs.  the  Board  of  Education,  etc.,  which  virtually  established 
the  position  of  the  high  schools  of  Illinois  in  the  public 
school  system  of  that  state.1 

About   the   time  when  the  Kalamazoo  case  was  in  the 

i  In  England  the  board  schools  have  shown  of  late  a  tendency  to  push  up 
into  the  higher  grades  of  instruction,  much  as  the  common  schools  of  this 
country  have  done.  A  case  analogous  to  the  Kalamazoo  high  school  case  has 
come  up  recently  in  an  English  court,  and  an  adverse  decision  has  been 
rendered. 


360          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

courts,  some  of  the  later  state  systems  of  secondary  educa- 
tion were  beginning  to  take  definite  shape ;  and  long-estab- 
lished systems  began  also  to  take  on  new  activity.  Before 
turning  attention  to  the  systems  then  newly  organized,  it 
will  be  well  to  note  the  later  developments  in  Massachu- 
setts and  New  York,  for  in  their  different  directions  these 
states  have  taken  the  lead  in  the  movement  of  recent  times. 

Massachusetts  has  led  the  way  in  the  making  of  such 
provision  that  an  education  of  secondary  grade  is  open,  free 
of  charge,  to  every  boy  and  girl  in  the  commonwealth. 
Other  states  have  followed  Massachusetts  in  this  matter, 
and  it  appears  that  one  of  the  most  distinctive  marks  of  the 
high  school  system-making  of  the  past  few  years,  is  the  con- 
scious effort  to  make  free  secondary  education  accessible  to 
all.  The  Massachusetts  law  making  this  liberal  provision 
dates  from  1891.  The  extension  of  high  school  privileges 
has  run  parallel  with  the  consolidation  of  the  less  populous 
school  districts,  and  the  extension  of  regular  supervision  to 
all  portions  of  the  state. 

According  to  a  recent  report  (1898)  there  were  353  towns 
in  Massachusetts,  of  which  number  185  had  each  a  popula- 
tion large  enough  to  bring  it  under  the  legal  obligation  to 
maintain  a  high  school  of  its  own.  Seventy  others 
tained  high  schools,  though  not  required  to  do  so  by  the 
education  act.  All  others,  not  maintaining  high  schools  of 
their  own,  were  required,  under  the  law  of  1891,  to  pay  the 
tuition  fees  of  qualified  students,  living  within  their  limits, 
who  should  go  elsewhere  for  instruction  of  high  school 
grade.  The  school  authorities  of  such  towns  were  further 
authorized,  but  not  required,  to  pay  the  cost  of  transporting 
such  students  to  and  from  the  schools  which  they  might 
attend. 

In  order  to  carry  this  scheme  into  effect,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  extend  aid  to  the  poorer  towns  from  the 
treasury  of  the  state.  The  distribution  of  state  moneys 
appropriated  to  this  use  is  conditioned  upon  a  direct  inquiry 
into  the  educational  facilities  of  different  portions  of  the 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  361 

state  by  agents  of  the  Board  of  Education.  So  it  happens 
that  this  board,  which  in  the  days  of  Horace  Mann  sus- 
tained an  advisory  relation  only  to  the  schools,  has  seen  a 
considerable  increase  in  its  administrative  powers. 

The  high  schools  of  the  state  are  required  to  maintain 
each  a  four-year  course,  of  forty  weeks  to  the  year.  They 
must  prepare  their  students  for  admission  to  the  state  nor- 
mal schools,  and  to  higher  scientific  schools  and  colleges. 
According  to  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  presented 
to  the  legislature  of  the  state  in  January,  1902,  there  were 
261  of  these  high  schools.  In  them  nearly  1,500  teachers 
are  employed.  All  but  nine  of  these  schools  were  kept  from 
nine  to  ten  months  in  the  year,  but  many  of  them  fell  short 
of  the  full  ten  months.  In  1897  Massachusetts  paid 
$12,390,638  for  public  schools,  of  which  amount  $2,400,000, 
or  19  per  cent,  was  for  high  schools.  The  total  municipal 
tax  in  the  state  that  year  was  $15.23  on  each  $1,000  of 
property  valuation.  Of  this,  $4.72  was  for  public  schools, 
iO.91  of  which  was  for  high  schools.  These  figures  include 
the  cost  of  school  buildings  along  with  the  current  expense 
for  school  maintenance.1 

If  the  University  of 'the  State  of  New  York  i  had  a  rather 
vague  existence  in  the  earlier  days,  there  has  been  no  doubt 
of  its  place  among  the  actualities  in  more  recent  times. 
The  spirit  of  organized  activity  has_been  at  work  in  the 
institution,  with  all  the  stirring,  straining,  and  collision  of 
diverse  purposes  which  commonly  attend  that  spirit's  opera- 
tion. The  strongly  centralized administration  which  this 
umojie^stabTisKmenrembodies  has  been  railed  at  and  glori- 
fied, but  it  has~gone  on  organizing,  and  organizing  still  more, 
until  it  has  become  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the 
making  of  our  higher  grades  of  instruction.  It^  can  hardly 
be  doubted  that  this  university  now^resents  tlje  most 
thor^u^lx_Qi^anized  gtat^  system^ofjeconcTary  education 
which  has  yet  been  devjjgpejdjm  American  soil. 

1  MARTIN,  Massachusetts  public  school  system,  lecture  5.  HILL,  How  far 
the  public  high  school  is  a  just  charge  upon  the  public  treasury,  teports  of  the 
Board  of  Education. 


362          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Five  of  the  six  departments  into  which  the  work  of  the 
university  is  divided  may  be  disregarded  in  a  study  of 
secondary  education.  We  are  here  concerned  only  with 
the  high  school  department,  which  has  to  do  with  high 
schools  and  academies,  and  the  interests  of  secondary 
education  generally. 

The_coJ.lege  and  the  high_sclmn1  Hppflrf-.mp.nt-.  of  the  uni- 

versity  are under  a  single  dftpa.rf.mp.nt. — director.  He  is 

assisted  by  nine  inspectors  of  schools,  one  of  whom  is 
employed  as  an  inspector  of  apparatus,  and  by  a  large  staff 
of  examiners.  On  the  basis  of  reports  made  to  this  depart- 
ment, the  regents  distributed  in  1901  a  total  of  $292,311.81 
to  the  secondary  schools  of  the  state.  Formerly  a  portion 
of  the  money  distributed  by  the  regents  was  apportioned  on 
the  basis  of  credentials  obtained  by  pupils  in  the  schools 
who  had  passed  regents'  examinations  —  a  method,  that  is, 
of  "  payment  by  results."  The  report  of  the  director  of  the 
high  school  department  for  1898  says  of  the  examinations ; 

"  In  June,  1898,  the  secretary 'stated  to  the  regents  that  10  years' 
experience  had  confirmed  his  views,  given  to  the  board  in  1889, 
that  examinations  have  the  highest  educational  value  and  that  the 
small  minority  which  would  abolish  them  are  extremists.  It  is 
believed,  however,  that  these  tests  would  be  more  valuable*  if  they 
were  used  for  their  educational  value  and  not  at  all  as  a  guide  in 
distributing  public  money.  Inspection  will  enable  us  in  most 
cases  to  determine  satisfactorily  without  regents'  examinations 
whether  a  school  is  maintaining  a  standard  deserving  aid  from 
state  funds." 

In  accordance  with  this  recommendation  the  method  of 
payment  by  results  has  been  discontinued  and  apportion- 
ments are  now  made  as  follows :  (a)  $100  is  allowed  to 
each  school  approved  by  the  regents  without  regard  to 
its  size  or  special  attainments  ;  (&)  a  sum  not  exceeding  $250 
for  the  purchase  of  approved  books  and  apparatus  is  allowed 
to  each  school  raising  for  the  same  purpose  an  equal  amount 
from  local  sources;  (c)  the  balance  of  the  fund  is  distributed 


LATER  STATE  SYSTJ  '-fS  363 

on  the  basis  of  total  attendance  of  acauemic  students,  pro- 
vided that  each  student  whose  attendance  is  so  counted 
must  hold  a  "regents'  preliminary  certificate''  for  admission 
to  the  school,  or  the  school  must  have  been  approved  by  two 
university  inspectors,  as  having  a  higher  entrance  require- 
ment than  the  minimum  prescribed  for  the  preliminary  cer- 
tificate. Of  the  $350,000  appropriated  for  this  purpose 
under  the  present  laws,  about  20  per  cent  will  be  distributed 
under  item  (a),  about  15  per  cent  under  item  (b),  and  about 
65  per  cent  under  item  (c). 

Kegents'  examinations  are  held  in  January  and  June  in  |  j  I 
seventy-three  subjects,  covering  all  the  courses  in  the  high  i 
school  curriculum,  and  in  March  in  twenty-six  subjects  only. 
In  1901  these  examinations  were  taken  by  699  of  the  741 
secondary  schools  in  the  university.  Each  diploma  issued 
by  the  regents  to  a  graduate  of  a  secondary  school  shows 
on  its  face  the  subjects  in  which  its  holder  has  passed 
regents'  examinations.  These  diplomas  are  accepted  in  lieu 
of  entrance  examinations  in  the  subjects  which  they  cover 
by  institutions  of  higher  education  not  only  in  New  York 
state  but  also  generally  throughout  the  United  States.  .  As 
the  regents'  preliminary  examinations  furnish  the  standard 
for  admission  to  the  secondary  schools,  their  influence  ex- 
tends to  all  the  lower  grades,  and  large  numbers  of  pupils 
from  the  ungraded  rural  schools  take  these  tests  in  the 
neighboring  high  schools  and  academies. 

A  syllabus  is  issued  by  the  regents  for  the  guidance  of 
instruction  in  university  institutions.  There  is  free  consul- 
tation between  the  officers  of  the  university  and  the  instruc- 
tors in  the  schools  with  reference  to  the  contents  of  this 
syllabus.  An  annual  university  convocation,  in  which  the 
representatives  of  all  divisions  of  the  university  meet  for 
public  discussion,  forms  one  of  the  notable  educational  gath- 
erings of  the  country.1 

i  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  James  Russell  Parsons,  Jr.,  secretary  of  the  Uni- 
versity, for  IMS  courtesy  in  placing  the  latest  statistics  collected  by  his  office  at 
my  disposal.  The  standard  histories  of  the  University  are  those  of  HOUGH 
and  SHERWOOD. 


364          THE  MAh  *NG  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

One  of  the  first  r'-ate  systems  of  secondary  education  to 
be  organized  after  the  Civil  War  was  that  of  Indiana.  This, 
however,  was  virtually  an  "  accrediting  "  arrangement,  the 
administration  of  which  was  turned  over  to  the  state  author- 
ities. It  may  more  conveniently  be  considered  when  we 
come  to  an  examination  of  the  rise  of  the  accrediting 
system. 

The  Wisconsin  system  of  free  high  schools  was  established 
in  1875.  It  provides  for  the  maintenance  of  high  schools  by 
towns,  incorporated  villages,  cities,  or  school  districts  con- 
taining incorporated  villages  or  two-department  graded 
schools  within  their  limits.  Two  or  more  adjoining  towns, 
or  one  or  more  towns  and  an  incorporated  village,  may  unite 
in  establishing  and  maintaining  a  high  school.  These 
schools  are  managed  by  local  high  school  boards,  which  are 
commonly,  but  not  always,  identical  with  the  boards  for 
elementary  schools.  They  are  supported  primarily  by  local 
taxation,  but  a  district  is  entitled  to  receive  from  the  general 
fund  of  the  state  a  sum  not  exceeding  one-half  the  amount 
actually  expended  for  instruction  in  the  high  school  of  such 
district,  and  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars  in  any  one 
year ;  provided  the  school  has  been  kept  in  accordance  with 
certain  requirements  prescribed  by  law,  and  provided  further 
that  the  total  amount  paid  from  the  state  treasury  for  this 
purpose  in  any  one  year  shall  not  exceed  1100,000. 

Such  a  school  is  under  the  direct  inspection  and  oversight 
of  the  state  superintendent.  To  receive  state  aid,  a  school 
must  establish  and  maintain  a  course  of  study  prescribed,  or 
at  least  approved,  by  that  official ;  and  must  be  taught  by 
teachers  whose  certificates  he  has  approved.  The  state 
superintendent  issues  a  manual  for  the  guidance  of  these 
schools,  containing  general  suggestions,  courses  of  study, 
an  outline  of  subjects  and  methods  of  instruction,  and  the 
text  of  the  high  school  law.  He  is  assisted  in  the  visitation 
and  supervision  which  the  law  prescribes  by  an  inspector  of 
free  high  schools,  whom  he  appoi-^~ 

An  effort  has  been  made  in  Wisconsin  to  encourage  the 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  365 

milding  up  of  township  high  schools  in  the  less  thickly 
jttled  portions  of  the  state.  This  undertaki  g  has  thus  far 

)t  with  only  a  moderate  degree  of  success.     In  the  cities 

id  towns  of  Wisconsin,  the  high  schools  are  going  steadily 
d,  under  the  system  of  state  supervision.  Within  the 
past  few  years  many  of  them  have  been  noused  in  fine, 
new  buildings,  which  are  provided  with  excellent  labora- 
tories for  instruction  in  the  natural  sciences.  Important 
beginnings  have  been  made  also  in  the  equipment  of  schools 
for  courses  in  manual  training.  State  aid,  to  the  amount  of 
1250  a  year  for  any  one  school,  is  extended  to  such  courses 
under  special  provisions  of  the  high  school  law.  There  are 
now  (spring  of  1902)  eight  schools  receiving  such  special 
aid ;  while  the  whole  number  of  state-aided  high  schools 
in  the  state  is  222.  Of  these  forty-eight  have  a  three- 
year  course,  and  tfce  re»»inder  a  course  four  years  in 
length. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  schools  having  four-year  courses 
are  accredited  to  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  The  accredit- 
ing system  was  introduced  by  the  university  in  1878,  and  is 
carried  on  independently  of  the  state  system  of  inspection. 
About  a  dozen_of_the  largest  and  strongestjiigh^schools  in 
t h ftjafaitft  fl.rft~nnL-mp.1nHp.rl  among  those  receiving  state  aid. 

The  courses  of  study  in  these  Wisconsin  schools  are  com- 
monly designated  as  the  English,  the  general  science,  the 
modern  classical,  and  the  ancient  classical  course.  A  given 
school  will  ordinarily  establish  the  English  course  at  first, 
and  add  the  others  from  time  to  time  in  the  order  in  which 
they  have  been  named. 

Wisconsin  took  an  important  step  in  the  passage  of  an  act 
in  the  winter  of  1901-02  providing  for  county  schools  of  ag- 
riculture and  domestic  economy.  These  are  to  be  secondary 
schools,  having  at  the  outset  a  two-year  course  of  study. 
State  aid  to  the  amount  of  $2,500  is  to  be  granted  to  each 
school  established  under  the  provisions  of  this  law  and 
approved  by  the  state  superintendent.  Two  such  schools  will 
be  organized  in  the  fall  of  1902. 


366          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

"  A  line  of  work  in  elements  of  agriculture  may  run  through  the 
entire  two  year  ;  another  line  in  manual  training  for  the  boys, 
covering  the  use  of  wood- working  tools,  elementary  blacksmith  ing, 
and  including  son  .e  work  in  the  architecture  of  farm  buildings  will 
be  given.  Such  high  school  studies  as  will  be  most  profitable,  and 
as  can  be  carried  in  connection  with  the  other  subjects  will  also  be 
taken.  For  the  girls,  a  line  of  work  in  domestic  science  will  run 
through  the  entire  two  years.  They  will  also  be  given  some  man- 
ual training,  and  some  instruction  in  horticulture  and  floriculture. 
They  will  take  the  same  academic  studies  as  the  boys."  1 

Minnesota  has  maintained  a  state  system  of  high  schools' 
since  1881.  At  the  head  of  this  system  stands  the  StjyEe 
High  School  Board,  consisting  of  the  superintendent/)5f 
public  instruction,  the  president  of  the  University  of 
sota,  and  a  city  superintendent  appointed  by  the 
This  board  appoints  a  high  schttl  ins^ecttr  and  a  gradeoT 
school  inspector.  Any  public  Jiigh  school  in  the  state  may 
become  a  state  high  school.  sJush  schools,  to  the  number  of 
not  more  than  seven  in  any  ine  county,  are  entitled  to 
receive  each  the  sum  of  $1,000  annually  from  the  treasury 
of  the  state. 

A  state  high  school  must  admit  students  of  either  sex 
from  any  part  of  the  state  without  charge  for  tuition,  must 
provide  a  course  of  study  covering  the  requirements  for  ad- 
mission to  the  University  of  Minnesota,  and  must  be  subject 
to  the  rules  and  open  to  the  inspection  of  the  high  school 
board.  This  board  determines,  on  the  basis  of  the  reports  of 
its  inspector,  what  schools  are  entitled  to  the  bounty  of  the 
state.  Provision  is  also  made  for  state  graded  schools,  of 
lower  rank  than  the  state  high  schools ;  and  for  the  promo- 
tion of  such  schools  to  the  rank  of  state  high  schools  when 
they  have  attained  a  suitable  degree  of  advancement. 

The  state  high  school  board  conducts  annually  a  written 
examination  of  classes  in  the  schools.  The  taking  of  this 

1  Letter  from  State  Superintendent  L.  D.  HATTVEY,  to  whom  I  air.  indebted 
for  recent  statistics  of  the  Wisconsin  system.  Mr.  Harvey  publi  lied  a  val- 
uable Report  on  schools  of  agriculture  and  manual  training,  in  1901. 


LATER  STATE  SYSTEMS  867 

tate  examination  is  ordinarily  optional  with  the  school,  and 
10  grants  of  money  are  based  on  examination  results.  The 
tate  board  may,  however,  require  a  school  to  take  an  exam- 
nation  as  part  of  the  annual  inspection.  "  The  main  purpose 
f  state  examinations,"  as  set  forth  by  the  inspector  of  high 
chools  in  his  report  for  1898,  "  is  not  to  test  the  students, 
>ut  to  promote  the  general  efficiency  of  the  schools."  All 
tate  high  schools  are  fully  "  accredited  "  by  the  university 
nd  the  normal  schools  of  the  state,  whether  they  have 
taken  the  examination  or  not. 

One  interesting  provision  of  the  Minnesota  law  is  that 
under  which  laboratory  apparatus  for  the  high  schools  is 
made  at  the  state  prison  and  sold  to  the  schools  at  cost. 
JBut  perhaps  the  most  significant  thing  about  the^  whole 
system  is  the  encouragement  it  gives  to  high  schools  In 
the  smallftr  fow"**  Horn rmini tips  all  over  the  state  tax 
themselves  freely  to  supplement  the  bounty  distributed  by 
the  state  high  school  board.  There  are  now  (spring  of 
1902)  129  of  these  high  schools.  The  number  is  steadily 
increasing,  and  is  expected  to  come  near  to  140  by  the  close 
of  the  current  school  year. 

Other  state  systems  are  slowly  taking  form.  Already  there 
are  noteworthy  enactments  relating  to  secondary  education  in 
the  statutes  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania,  Louisiana,  Illinois,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Cali- 
fornia, and  several  other  states.  From  the  simple  provision, 
usually  found  in  state  school  laws,  that  the  school  authori- 
ties in  districts  of  sufficientNsize  may  extend  the  course  of 
instruction  in  their  schools  beyond  the  range  of  the  elemen- 
tary branches,  various  states  are  going  on  to  encourage  the 
establishment  of  the  higher  schools  by  larger  administrative 
units,  and  by  union  districts  entered  into  for  this  express 
purpose  by  contiguous  smaller  districts.  Special  state  funds 
are  made  available  for  th3  reinforcement  of  local  enterprise 
in  this  matter  ;  and  with  the  distribution  of  state  funds  goes 
some  form  of  state  inspection.  Special  provision  is  making 
for  the  encouragement  of  instruction  in  "  domestic  science  " 


368          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

and  in  commercial  and  technical  branches.  Care  is  taken 
that  even  the  more  sparsely  settled  regions  shall  have 
schools  which  prepare  students  for  admission  to  nonnal 
schools,  colleges,  and  universities.  The  requirement  of  high 
qualifications  on  the  part  of  teachers  who  aspire  to  high 
school  positions,  still  lags  behind  other  lines  of  this  forward 
movement,  but  even  in  this  particular  progress  may  be 
noted. 

Massachusetts  stands  nearly_jf  not  £uite  alone  in  its 
:  requirement  thajrjiigh  schools  shall  be  established  in  all 
towns  having_a_^pecified  population.  Such  acquirement, 
however,  is  now  of  minor  importance  when  communities  all 
over  the  land  are  showing  great  zeal  in  the  establishment  of 
such  schools  apart  from  any  legal  prescription.  The  later 
requirement  in  Massachusetts  that  free  secondary  infrac- 
tion shall  be  made  accessible  to  every  boy  and  girl  \jho  is 
ready  for  such  instruction,  has  selrrrpriTriew  standard  for  all 
of  our  states,  the  influence  of  which  may  t>e  seen  in  much  of 
our  recent  legislation. 

NOTE 

It  is  important  that  those  who  are  seeking  to  secure  legislation  for'the,. 
improvement  of  high  schools  in  the  several  states  should  become  familiar 
with  the  history  of  recent  movements  of  a  similar  character  in  other  parts 
of  the  country.     Perhaps  the  simplest  way  to  get  a  comprahensire  viaw 

this  movement  is  to  read  the  -  ;  /~^A-''  »  '-0'V  '4*^'  A*- 

\ 

Digest  of  public  school  laws.    Kept.  Comr.  Ed.,  1893-94,  ch.  9,  pp.  1063- 
1300; 

and  in  connection  with  this  the  annual 

Comparative  summary  and  index  of  lei         ,-ja,  published  by  the  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York  (Albany). 

These  summaries  make  it  easy  to  <  n  which  import- 

ant education  bills  have  been  passed,  and  faci  search  for  the 

text  of  such  laws  in  the  session  acts  oi  In  ^vnl  tegisli  <  ires.  Beginning 
with  the  year  1901,  a  supplemental  ImlUiin  is  ibsu  ;<  under  the  title, 
Review  of  legislation. 

[Note  to  second  edition :  The  priority  ascribed  above  to  Massachusetts, 
in  the  making  of  free  secondary  education  ipeu  to  all,  may  probably  be 
claimed  with  fairness  by  Minnesota.] 


CHAPTER  XVII 
RECENT  TENDENCIES 

THE  study  of  the  more  recent  tendencies  in  our  secondary 
education,  leads  us,  almost  before  we  are  aware,  into  a 
consideration  of  our  present  educational  status.  In  the 
chapters  which  follow,  as  in  that  just  finished,  the  history 
of  movements  is  mingled  freely  with  accounts  of  present- 
day  conditions.  So  enormous  is  the  mass  of  facts  which 
presents  itself  for  review  in  this  place  that  only  a  very 
superficial  and  selective  survey  can  be  taken. 

In  general,  we  may  say  that  the  later  movements  have 
been  mainly  directed  toward  the  better  adjustment  of  our 
secondary  schools  (a)  to  schools  above  them  and  below; 
(ft)  to  the  changing  needs  of  American  life ;  and  (c)  to  the 
individual  capacities  of  the  students  found  in  those  schools. 

These  movements  have  been  dominated  by  the  American 
aspiration  after  completeness  and  consecutiveness  in  the 
organization  of  educational  institutions ;  by  the  determina- 
tion, that  is,  that  there  shall  be  no  cul-de-sac  in  the  educa- 
tional systems  of  the  republic,  but  that  instead  every  child, 
to  the  remotest  district  of  our  land,  shall  find  the  humble 
school  of  his  neighborhood  opening  up  into  the  higher 
schools,  and  so  on  up  into  the  highest  universities.  This 
aspiration  has  led  to  some  incongruities.  Nevertheless,  there 
is  in  it  a  lofty  idealism  and  an  inspiring  greatness  of  pur- 
pose. We  may  justly  regard  it  as  one  of  the  great,  forma- 
tive influences  at  work  in  the  making  of  the  American 
character. 

In  our  public  school  systems  the  gap  which  has  been 
bridged  with  the  greatest  difficulty  is  that  between  the  high 

24 


370          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

schools  and  the  colleges.  The  high  schools  were,  as  has 
been  shown,  an  outgrowth  of  the  elementary  schools.  Their 
relations  with  the  schools  below  them  have  presented  serious 
problems,  which  have  called  forth  much  discussion  and 
made  readjustment  necessary ;  and  the  end  of  all  this  surely 
is  not  yet.  But  the  relations  of  the  high  schools  with 
the  colleges  have  been  different,  and  very  much  more 
difficult. 

We  take  for  our  point  of  departure  the  period  of  the  Civil 
War,  or  let  us  say  a  time  not  far  from  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  In  the  most  of  the  leading  states  of 
the  east,  the  chief,  or  indeed  the  only,  provision  for  higher 
education  was  in  institutions  managed  by  private  corpora- 
tions. In  many  of  the  newer  states  there  were  growing  up 
universities  under  full  state  control.  The  growth  of  state 
universities  was  greatly  accelerated  by  grants  of  land  made 
under  the  Morrill  act  of  1862.  But  these  universities  were 
supported  out  of  funds  separate  from  those  devoted  to  the 
common  schools,  and  were  controlled  by  separate  adminis- 
trative boards.  The  requirements  for  admission  to  higher 
institutions  of  either  sort  were  determined  by  the  college 
faculties,  with  only  incidental  reference  to  the  purely  edu- 
cational problems  confronting  the  secondary  schools.  The 
fitness  of  candidates  for  admission  was  determined  by  an  ex- 
amination, conducted  at  the  college,  by  college  instructors, 
and  covering  the  requirements  which  the  college  had  pre- 
scribed. 

This  system,  to  be  sure,  possessed  great  advantages.  It 
compelled  every  school  which  would  prepare  students  for  a 
given  college  to  come  up  to  a  definite  scholastic  standard 
imposed  upon  it  from  without.  It  exercised  no  authority 
over  the  schools,  but  exerted  an  influence  which  a  prepara- 
tory school  could  not  escape.  Besides,  the  standard  set  for 
classes  preparing  for  college  had  an  indirect  influence  on 
classes  in  the  same  school  which  were  pursuing  other  lines 
of  study.  So  the  most  powerful  single  agency  affecting  the 
course  and  the  methods  of  instruction  in  the  better  secondary 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  371 

schools  was  for  many  years  the  entrance  examinations  of 
the  several  colleges. 

But  there  were  evils  attendant  upon  this  system.  When 
the  excellence  of  a  four-year  course  of  school  instruction  was 
tested  by  a  single  examination  at  the  end  of  the  course ; 
this  examination  being  conducted  by  the  instructors  in  an- 
other, and  often  a  remote  institution,  with  sole  reference  to 
the  plans  and  purposes  of  that  institution ;  it  was  inevitable 
that  the  lower  school  should  become  merely  tributary  in  all 
essential  particulars  to  the  higher.  The  college  examination 
was  the  chief  end  and  aim  of  much  of  the  work  in  the  best  : 
courses  offered  by  our  secondary  schools.  There  appeared  a 
marked  tendency  to  substitute  a  cramming  process  for  real 
educational  procedure.  Teachers  in  secondary  schools  were \ 
too  largely  turned  aside  from  the  independent  investigation 
of  the  essential  problems  of  secondary  education,  to  more 
petty  inquiries  as  to  the  exact  nature  of  the  entrance  exam- 
inations at  certain  colleges.  It  is  clear  that  such  a  state  of 
things  did  not  answer  to  the  organic  continuity  of  instruc- 
tion which  American  social  conditions  seemed  to  demand; 
yet  with  all  of  the  efforts  at  improvement  put  forth  in  recent 
years  it  has  even  now  been  remedied  only  in  part. 

A  change  was,  however,  slowly  coming  over  the  entrance 
requirements  of  our  colleges.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  Civil 
War,  eight  "  subjects  "  had  found  a  place  in  the  requirements 
of  different  institutions  for  admission  to  the  regular,  classical 
course,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  These 
subjects  were  Latin,  Greek,  arithmetic,  geography,  English 
grammar,  algebra,  geometry,  and  ancient  history.  Withio 
the  short  space  of  six  years,  six  new  subjects  were  added  to 
this  list.  These  new  subjects  are  enumerated  as  follows, 
with  the  time,  and  the  institution  at  which  each  made  its 
first  appearance : 

Modern  history  (United  States),  Michigan  ....  1869 
Physical  geography,  Michigan  and  Harvard  ....  1870 
English  composition,  Princeton .1870 


372          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Physical  science,  Harvard 1872 

English  literature        "  1874 

Modern  (foreign)  language,  Harvard 1875  l 

Another  and  more  extensive  change  affecting  admission 
requirements  was  the  framing  of  alternative  courses  by  the 
colleges,  parallel  with  the  classical  course,  and  leading  to 
some  other  baccalaureate  than  that  in  arts.  A  few  scattered 
experiments  with  such  parallel  courses  were  made  before 
the  year  1850,  but  it  was  in  the  third  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  that  this  movement  first  became  general. 
The  following  table  is  intended  to  show  when  such  courses 
were  first  offered,  in  some  prominent  institutions,  as  leading 
to  an  academic  degree,  and  takes  no  account  of  those  sub- 
sidiary courses  which  were  sometimes  offered  with  no  prom- 
ise of  a  degree  attached.  In  each  of  the  cases  here  indicated, 
the  degree  was  either  that  of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy  or  that 
of  Bachelor  of  Science : 

Brown,  1851,  Ph.B.  Michigan,  1853,  B.S. 

Harvard  (Lawrence),  1851,  B.S.  Columbia,  1864,  Ph.B. 

Yale  (Sheffield),  1852,  Ph.B.  Cornell,  1868,  Ph.B.,  B.S. 

Dartmouth,  1852,  B.S.  Amherst,  1872,  B.S. 

Kochester,  1852,  B.S.  Princeton,  1873,  B.S. 

The  requirements  for  admission  to  these  courses  generally 
omitted  Greek,  and  included  in  its  stead  some  other  subject 
or  subjects  from  the  "  modern  "  side.  As  time  has  gone  on, 
these  requirements  have  become  much  more  flexible.  Such 
changes  not  only  tended  to  the  broadening  out  of  the  stand- 
ard, classical  course  in  the  secondary  schools,  but  they 
opened  up  also  the  prospect  of  college  education  to  those 
who  were  pursuing  other  courses  than  the  classical.  The 

1  In  this  and  the  following  account  of  changes  in  admission  requirements, 
I  am  following  DR.  BROOME'S  manuscript,  already  referred  to.  Dr.  Broome 
has  not  extended  his  inquiry  to  all  of  the  colleges,  and  there  may  have  been 
instances  of  the  introduction  of  some  of  these  requirements  at  an  earlier  date 
than  is  here  given,  in  some  less  prominent  institutions. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  373 

range  of  direct  college  influence  in  the  schools  became  ac- 
cordingly greater. 

If  the  high  schools  had  kept  to  the  purpose  originally 
proposed  for  the  English  Classical  School  at  Boston,  they 
would  not  have  been  affected  by  the  earlier  changes  in  col- 
lege admission  requirements.  But  the  high  schools  gravi- 
tated toward  the  colleges,  as  the  academies  had  done  before 
them.  None  of  the  many  protests  raised  against  this  move- 
ment could  check  it.  for  any  length  of  time.  It  was,  in  fact, 
a  thoroughly  American  movement.  It  answered  to  that 
broad,  American  logic  which  maintained  that  since  any 
youth  might  rise  to  the  highest  offices,  every  youth  should 
have  the  opportunity  offered  to  him  of  rising  to  the  highest 
education. 

The  high  schools,  too,  like  the  early  academies,  have  ex- 
ercised some  little  influence  on  the  colleges.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  at  a  later  period,  college  entrance  requirements 
were  somewhat  modified  by  the  desire  of  the  higher  institu- 
tions to  meet  the  secondary  schools  half-way. 

The  problem  as  it  presented  itself  to  those  who  laid  the 
general  interests  of  education  to  heart  was  this :  How  might 
a  more  vital  relationship  be  established  between  the  second- 
ary schools  and  the  colleges,  with  a  view  to  conserving  the 
highest  educational  efficiency  of  both  institutions  ?  One  of 
the  earliest  and  most  notable  attempts  at  its  solution  is  the 
so-called  accrediting  system,  introduced  by  the  University 
of  Michigan  in  1871.  Under  this  arrangement,  a  university 
admits  to  its  freshman  class  without  examination,  such  grad- 
uates of  approved  secondary  schools  as  are  especially  recom- 
mended for  that  purpose  by  the  principals  of  those  schools. 
The  system  has  met  with  great  favor  and  has  had  widespread 
application.  The  United  States  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion reported  in  1896  that  there  were  then  42  state  univer- 
sities and  agricultural  and  mechanical  colleges,  and  about 
150  other  institutions  in  which  it  had  been  adopted.1 

It  depends  upon  a  purely  voluntary  agreement  between 

1  Hept.  Comr.  Ed.,  1894-95,  II.,  pp.  1171-1188. 


374         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

the  secondary  schools  and  the  higher  institutions.  The 
college  or  university  satisfies  itself  that  the  secondary  school 
applying  for  such  recognition  is  properly  taught.  Usually 
a  committee  of  the  faculty  is  sent  to  inspect  the  school,  and 
the  school  agrees  to  submit  itself  to  such  inspection.  Com- 
monly, too,  students  admitted  on  school  credentials  are 
understood  to  be  on  probation  during  the  first  term  of  their 
college  course.  It  is  the  school  rather  than  the  indi- 
vidual that  is  examined ;  and  the  inquiry  relates  chiefly  to 
the  vitality,  intelligence,  and  general  effectiveness  of  the 
instruction. 

Hardly  any  two  institutions  follow  exactly  the  same 
method  in  the  practice  of  accrediting  schools.  The  Michigan 
system  provided  for  inspection  of  each  school  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  faculty,  consisting  of  one  or  two  members. 
On  a  favorable  report  from  this  committee  the  school  was 
accredited  for  one,  two,  or  three  years  according  to  the 
degree  of  established  excellence  which  it  presented.  With 
the  spread  of  the  system  to  other  institutions,  it  has  differ- 
entiated on  the  one  hand  in  the  direction  of  a  more  frequent 
and  thorough-going  inspection  of  schools,  and  on  the  other 
hand  in  the  direction  of  less  thorough  inspection  or  none  at 
all.  Perhaps  the  lowest  outcome  of  this  differentiation  is 
represented  by  the  announcement  of  the  authorities  of  one 
college  that  "  Students  bearing  the  personal  certificates  of  a 
former  teacher,  concerning  studies  satisfactorily  completed, 
will  be  given  credit  for  the  work  they  have  done."  l 

On  the  other  hand,  the  highest  grade  of  efficiency  in 
university  inspection  is  found  in  such  a  system  as  that 
maintained  for  fifteen  years  or  more  by  the  University  of 
California.  Here  the  accrediting  of  schools  was  put  under 
the  oversight  of  a  committee  of  the  Academic  Senate,  repre- 
senting the  chief  departments  of  instruction.  All  secondary 
schools  within  the  state  which  applied  for  accrediting  — 
public  high  schools,  private  schools,  and  institutions  under 
corporate  or  ecclesiastical  management  —  were  visited  each 

1  Rept.  Cmnr.  Ed.,  1894-95,  II.,  p.  1183. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  375 

year  under  the  direction  of  this  committee  by  several  mem- 
I  bers  of  the  teaching  force  of  the  university.  A  given  school 
I  was  commonly  so  visited  and  inspected  in  the  course  of  each 
year  by  instructors  from  each  of  the  university  departments 
of  English,  Latin,  history,  mathematics,  and  physics.  In 
some  instances  the  departments  of  Greek,  modern  languages, 
chemistry,  and  the  biological  sciences,  or  any  one  or  more 
of  them,  were  added  to  the  list.  In  other  cases  tne  visitor 
from  the  department  of  English,  for  example,  under  a  special 
arrangement,  examined  the  school  for  the  Latin  department ; 
and  other  economical  combinations  were  made  from  time  to 
time.  The  heads  of  departments  visited  many  schools  in 
person ;  university  instructors  of  various  subordinate  grades 
shared  in  this  labor ;  but  so  far  as  possible  the  assignment 
to  such  duty  was  limited  to  persons  of  considerable  scho- 
lastic experience,  and  experience  as  a  teacher  in  secondary 
schools  was  regarded  as  a  qualification  of  no  small  impor- 
tance. The  men  who  went  out  for  the  purpose  of  such 
visitation  were  at  the  time  engaged  in  ordinary  university 
instruction.  The  loss  to  their  classes  from  the  interruptions 
to  continuous  work  caused  by  their  occasional  absence,  was 
minimized  by  various  devices.  The  expense  of  the  visitation 
was  borne  by  the  university. 

The  California  plan  has  undergone  some  little  modification 
within  the  past  two  years,  in  the  direction  of  simpler  and 
more  economical  administration.  Yet  the  account  given 
above  represents,  in  the  main,  the  system  as  it  is  still  in 
operation.  Under  this  system  a  school  may  be  "accred- 
ited" without  a  favorable  report  in  all  subjects;  but  the 
report  must  be  favorable  in  a  sufficient  number  of  subjects  to 
indicate  that  the  school  is  a  real  educational  institution. 
Superior  excellence  in  a  single  isolated  department  is  not  re- 
garded as  constituting  a  claim  to  a  place  on  the  university 
list. 

The  purpose  of  a  well-considered  accrediting  system  is 
not  primarily  to  provide  a  means  whereby  applicants  for 
admission  to  college  may  escape  a  dreaded  examination.  It 


376          TUB  MAKING  t>F  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

is  rather  to  encourage  and  build  up  real  educational  institu- 
tions of  secondary  grade.  This  result  the  system  has  un- 
doubtedly tended  to  bring  about.  It  has  brought  our 
schools  of  secondary  and  higher  grades  into  closer  articu- 
lation and  sympathy  one  with  another.  It  has  tended  to 
release  the  teachers  in  secondary  schools  from  the  domina- 
tion of  merely  formal  examination  requirements,  and  has 
turned  their  attention  to  vital  matters  in  the  domain  of 
education. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  system  has  had  and  still  has  seri- 
ous disadvantages.  It  tends  to  foster  a  too  prevalent  dis- 
position to  dispense  with  or  evade  all  tests  of  accurate 
scholarship.  Nor  does  it  altogether  put  an  end  to  the  evil 
of  subjecting  the  secondary  schools  to  tests  and  influences 
somewhat  foreign  to  the  real  purposes  of  secondary  educa- 
tion. The  inspection  cannot  be  so  conducted  that  all 
departments  of  all  schools  shall  be  tried  by  uniform  or  even 
consistent  standards  of  excellence.  It  entails,  too,  a  heavy 
burden  upon  the  higher  institution :  it  demands  large 
expenditures  of  money  and  of  the  time  of  university  in- 
structors. 

In  several  institutions  the  drain  upon  the  university 
funds  and  the  reduction  of  the  efficiency  of  instruction  in 
university  classes,  consequent  upon  the  regular  inspection 
of  schools  by  university  professors,  has  been  felt  to  be  in- 
tolerable. And  a  way  of  escape  has  been  found  through 
the  employment  of  a  special  inspector,  who  is  charged  with 
the  whole  or  the  greater  part  of  the  visitation  of  schools. 
Such  a  step  has  been  taken  by  the  parent  of  this  system 
—  the  University  of  Michigan.  The  California  system, 
too,  is  in  a  stage  of  transition,  and  the  changes  which 
have  already  been  made  in  it  have  greatly  reduced  the 
annual  expenditure  for  its  maintenance. 

It  would  be  hard  to  overestimate  the  good  already  accom- 
plished by  the  accrediting  system,  in  spite  of  all  defects. 
It  has  given  to  communities  a  means  which  had  been  lack- 
ing, of  discovering  the  deficiencies,  and  likewise  the  excel- 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  377 

lences,  of  their  schools.  It  has  greatly  aided  the  better 
principals  and  teachers  in  their  efforts  to  maintain  high 
standards  of  scholarship.  It  has  quickened  the  intellectual' 
life  of  schools  and  of  whole  communities,  by  the  immediate 
touch  of  university  ideals.  In  some  states,  as  in  Missouri, 
it  has  virtually  called  into  being  a  new  and  better  and  more 
general  provision  for  secondary  education,  within  a  very  few 
years.  In  some  states,  under  its  influence,  the  improve- 
ment of  the  teaching  force  in  such  schools  has  gone  forward 
at  an  unprecedented  rate. 

We  have  in  this  system  the  reappearance,  under  a  new 
guise,  of  a  conception  which  has  entered  variously  into  edu- 
cational thought  and  practice  within  the  past  century  and  a 
half :  the  conception  of  a  body  of  lower  schools,  or  at  least 
of  middle  schools,  under  a  system  of  university  administra- 
tion. The  idea  has  kept  cropping  out,  in  different  states  and 
in  different  countries.  If  a  good  scheme  of  organization  has 
been  devised  for  a  university  ministering  to  the  higher  edu- 
cational needs  of  a  given  territory,  why  may  not  the  same 
scheme  be  extended  advantageously  to  all  of  the  public 
schools  within  that  territory  ?  The  University  of  the  State 
of  New  York  is  one  attempt  at  an  answer,  and  the  accredit- 
ing system  is  another. 

But  little  need  be  said  with  reference  to  this  question  in 
such  an  account  as  we  now  have  in  hand.  Attention  should 
be  called,  however,  to  the  practical  difficulty  which  appears 
when  administrative  functions  are  devolved  upon  a  teaching 
body,  like  that  of  a  university.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly a  function  of  university  faculties,  as  President 
Tappan  pointed  out,  to  consider  and  determine,  to  the  best  ' 
of  human  ability,  the  whole  range  of  educational  ideals  and  '. 
processes  proper  to  schools  of  every  grade.  It  is  a  note- 
worthy fact  that  under  the  accrediting  scheme  great  systems 
of  inspection,  of  both  public  and  private  secondary  schools, 
have  grown  up  here  without  the  support  of  one  syllable  of 
statutory  enactment.  In  some  respects  the  voluntary  char- 
acter of  this  arrangement  has  been  its  strength.  It  should 


378          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

be  added  that  this  voluntary  system  is,  in  some  sections  of 
the  country,  so  reinforced  already  by  tradition  and  public 
sentiment  that  the  authorities  of  any  given  school  find  in  it 
the  force  of  compulsion.  This  is,  perhaps,  an  unfortunate 
outcome  of  the  very  success  which  the  plan  has  achieved. 

We  find  in  Indiana  what  is  virtually  a  system  of  univer- 
sity accrediting  of  high  schools,  the  administration  of  which 
has  been  turned  over  to  the  state  board  of  education.  In 
July,  1873,  the  board  of  trustees  of  Indiana  University 
adopted  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  a  certificate  "from 
certain  high  schools  "  should  entitle  the  bearer  to  admission 
to  the  freshman  class  of  that  institution.  In  August  of  the 
same  year  the  state  board  of  education  adopted  plans  under 
which  the  high  schools  which  were  worthy  of  such  recogni- 
tion should  be  designated  and  commissioned.  In  1888  the 
following  order  was  passed : 

"  That  hereafter  no  high  school  commission  be  granted  except  on 
a  favorable  report  in  writing,  to  be  made  to  the  state  board  of  edu- 
cation, by  some  member  of  the  state  board,  who  shall  visit  the  high 
school  in  question  as  a  committee  of  the  state  board  for  that  purpose. 

"  That  all  the  high  schools  now  in  commission  be  visited  by  com- 
mittees of  the  board  as  soon  as  may  be,  and  that  the  present  list 
be  modified  by  the  reports  from  such  visitation. 

"  That  in  case  of  change  of  superintendent  in  any  commissioned 
high  school,  the  commission  then  existing  shall  be  in  force  until  a 
visitation  shall  be  made  by  a  committee  of  the  state  board." 

The  territory  of  the  state  was  divided  up  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  board  for  the  purposes  of  such  visitation. 

By  such  simple  steps,  and  without  specific  legal  enact- 
ment, an  important  state  system  of  high  schools  has  been 
built  up.  These  schools  rest  upon  a  statutory  provision 
authorizing  local  school  authorities  to  provide  for  the  teach- 
ing, not  only  of  the  elementary  branches,  in  English,  but  also 
of  "  such  other  branches  of  learning  and  other  languages  as 
the  advancement  of  the  pupils  may  require."  They  are  sup- 
ported in  the  same  manner  as  the  elementary  schools.  The 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  379 

supervisory  power  of  the  state  board  of  education  is  secured 
by  the  broad  provision  that  "  said  board  shall  take  cogni- 
zance of  such  questions  as  may  arise  in  the  practical  adminis- 
tration of  the  school  system  not  otherwise  provided  for,  and 
duly  consider,  discuss,  and  determine  the  same." 

This  board  consists  of  the  governor  of  the  state,  the  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  the  respective  presidents 
of  the  State  University,  Purdue  University,  and  the  State 
Normal  School,  the  school  superintendents  of  the  three  lar- 
gest cities  in  the  state,  all  ex  officio,  and  "  three  citizens  of 
prominence  actively  engaged  in  educational  work  in  the 
state,  appointed  by  the  governor."  A  four-year  course  of 
study  for  high  schools,  prepared  by  this  board,  is  recom- 
mended for  adoption  by  all  schools  which  seek  a  place 
on  the  "commissioned  high  schools"  list.  The  board  an- 
nounces that  commissions  will  be  granted  to  those  high 
schools  only  which  meet  the  following  requirements  : 

1.  The  character  of  the  work  must  be  satisfactory; 

2.  The  high  school  course  must  be  not  less  than  thirty 
months  in  length,  counting  from  the  end  of  the  eighth  year ; 

3.  The  whole  time  of  at  least  two  teachers  must  be  given 
to  the  high  school  work ; 

4.  The  course  of  study  must  be  at  least  a  fair  equivalent 
of  that  recommended  by  the  state  board. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  system  provides  for  inspection  of 
the  schools  only  at  long  and  irregular  intervals.  In  practice, 
this  defect  is  partially  remedied  by  the  close  oversight  which 
the  universities  exercise  over  those  members  of  their  fresh- 
man classes  who  enter  on  certificates  from  the  schools. 

The  interest  in  secondary  education  which  has  grown  up 
under  this  system  has  extended  to  all  sections  of  the  state. 
The  high  schools  of  the  more  populous  centres  are  generally 
on  the  "  commissioned  schools  "  list,  and  this  list  is  steadily 
lengthening.  There  is  growing  up,  also,  a  large  number  of 
"  township  high  schools  "  in  the  more  sparsely  settled  por- 
tions of  the  state,  and  the  best  of  these  find  their  place 
among  the  commissioned  schools. 


380          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Parallel  with  the  later  development  of  the  accrediting 
system,  there  have  grown  up  important  voluntary  associa- 
tions of  instructors,  in  which  representatives  of  the  colleges 
meet  with  representatives  of  the  secondary  schools  for  the 
discussion  of  topics  of  common  interest.  The  parent  society 
of  this  order  is  the  New  England  Association  of  Colleges  and 
Preparatory  Schools,  organized  at  Boston  in  1885.  The 
object  of  this  association  was  declared  to  be,  "The  establish- 
ment of  mutually  sympathetic  and  helpful  relations  between 
the  faculties  of  the  colleges  represented  and  the  teachers  of 
the  preparatory  schools,  and  the  suggestion  to  that  end 
of  practical  measures  and  methods  of  work  which  shall 
strengthen  both  classes  of  institutions  by  bringing  them  into 
effective  harmony." 

This  organization  grew  out  of  a  previously  existing  state 
association  of  secondary  school  teachers  in  Massachusetts. 
It  in  turn  prompted  the  establishment  of  the  Commission  of 
Colleges  in  New  England  on  Admission  Examinations.  This 
commission,  formed  by  agreement  among  the  several  New 
England  colleges,  and  possessing  no  authority,  has  by  its 
recommendations  done  much  to  unify  the  requirements  for 
college  matriculation.  Its  most  notable  achievement  has 
been  the  mapping  out  of  requirements  in  the  English  lan- 
guage and  literature.  It  has  made  important  recommenda- 
tions also  with  reference  to  courses  in  the  ancient  classics 
and  modern  languages. 

The  example  of  New  England  has  been  followed  by  other 
sections  of  the  country.  The  Association  of  Colleges  and 
Preparatory  Schools  in  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland 
came  into  existence  in  1892,  growing  out  of  the  College  As- 
sociation of  Pennsylvania,  established  five  years  earlier. 
The  North  Central  Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary 
Schools  was  formed  at  Evanston,  Illinois,  in  1895 ;  and  the 
Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  of  the  South- 
ern States,  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  later  in  the  same  year.  State 
organizations  somewhat  similar  in  character  are  found  in  a 
number  of  the  states,  as  in  New  York,  Ohio,  Tennessee,  Colo- 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  381 

rado,  Michigan,  both  Dakotas,  and  California.  These  various 
societies,  through  their  discussions  and  recommendations, 
have  exercised  a  vast  influence  upon  the  development  of  our 
secondary  education. 

One  of  the  chief  landmarks  in  the  recent  history  of  this 
grade  of  school  is  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Secondary 
School  Studies,  appointed  by  the  National  Educational  Asso- 
ciation in  1892,  and  commonly  known  as  the  "  Committee  of 
Ten."  This  committee  was  the  outcome  of  a  movement 
within  the  National  Association,  looking  to  uniformity  of 
college  entrance  requirements,  and  was  appointed  at  the 
suggestion  of  President  James  H.  Baker  of  the  University 
of  Colorado.  Its  chairman  was  President  Eliot  of  Harvard 
University.  In  its  membership  were  included  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education  and  some  of  the  foremost 
representatives  of  both  secondary  and  higher  education  in 
America.  Not  limiting  itself  to  the  mechanical  adjustment 
of  relations  between  the  high  school  and  the  college,  the 
committee  proceeded  to  consider  the  problem  of  secondary 
education  from  an  educational  point  of  view.  Nine  sub- 
committees of  ten  members  each,  were  appointed  to  prepare 
reports  on  the  several  ordinary  departments  of  secondary 
school  instruction,  namely,  Latin,  Greek,  English,  other 
modern  languages,  mathematics,  physics  (with  astronomy 
and  chemistry),  natural  history  (biology,  including  botany, 
zoology,  and  physiology),  history  (with  civil  government 
and  political  economy),  and  geography  (physical  geography, 
geology,  and  meteorology). 

The  Committee  of  Ten,  having  secured  carefully  prepared 
reports  from  its  sub-committees,  and  having  examined  a 
large  number  of  the  courses  in  actual  use  in  secondary 
schools,  drew  up  a  report  which  was  published  by  the 
Bureau  of  Education  in  December,  1893.  The  reports  of 
the  sub-committees  were  incorporated  in  the  document  as 
issued. 

In  all  of  these  discussions  the  distribution  of  the  years  of 
school  life  now  generally  followed  in  the  educational  admin- 


382          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

istration  of  the  American  states  is  assumed  as  a  datum; 
eight  years  being  assigned  to  the  elementary  school,  and  the 
four  years  next  following  to  the  high  school.  The  demand 
for  an  earlier  introduction  of  secondary  school  studies  is, 
however,  reiterated  by  several  of  the  sub-committees  which 
reported  to  the  Committee  of  Ten.  They  call  attention  to 
the  disadvantage  to  students  pursuing,  for  instance,  the 
study  of  Latin,  which  results  from  postponing  the  begin- 
nings of  that  study  to  the  ninth  year  of  the  school  course, 
when  the  student  has  already  passed  the  most  favorable 
time  for  memorizing  paradigms  and  a  strange  vocabulary. 
The  Committee  of  Ten,  while  approving  strongly  of  these 
recommendations,  confine  their  proposals  to  improvements 
in  the  ordinary  four-year  secondary  course. 

After  discussing  the  principles  which  should  guide  in  the 

I  framing  of  courses  of  study,  the  committee  present  four 
sample  courses,  which  may  be  taken  as  illustrations  of  the 
application  of  those  principles.  These  sample  courses  are, 

•  however,  generally  regarded  as  the  least  successful  and  sig- 
nificant outcome  of  the  committee's  labors.  The  portions  of 
the  report  which  represent  the  most  mature  deliberation  are 
those  which  propose  general  principles  for  guidance  in  the 
forming  of  such  courses. 

The  committee  lay  great  stress  on  the  correlation  of 
studies  in  secondary  schools  :  the  unifying  of  many  subjects 
into  a  well-knit  curriculum,  through  the  recognition  of  their 
numerous  inter-relations.  They  endorse  the  unanimous 
recommendation  of  the  sub-committees  that  the  instruction 
in  any  given  subject  shall  not  be  different  for  a  student  pre- 
paring to  enter  a  higher  institution  from  that  for  students 
who  go  no  further  than  the  high  school.  They  make  an 
urgent  plea  for  more  highly  trained  teachers.  They  declare 
against  a  multiplicity  of  "  short  information  courses,"  such 
as  have  been  given  in  many  high  schools  in  times  past :  a 
dip  into  one  science  followed  by  a  dip  into  another,  and  no 
deep  draught  from  any.  Instead,  they  recommend  that 
such  subjects  as  are  studied  be  pursued  consecutively 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  383 

enough  and  extensively  enough  to  yield  that  training  which 
each  is  best  fitted  to  yield.  They  would  have  continuous 
instruction  throughout  the  secondary  course  in  the  four 
main  lines  of  language,  mathematics,  history,  and  natural 
science.  In  particular,  they  recommend  that  in  the  first 
two  years  of  a  four-year  course,  each  student  should  enter 
all  of  the  principal  fields  of  knowledge,  in  order  that  he  may 
fairly  "exhibit  his  quality  and  discover  his  tastes."  For 
this  reason  they  recommend  the  postponement  of  the  begin- 
ning of  Greek  to  the  third  year,  in  order  that  the  student 
may  not  find  himself  at  the  bifurcation  of  the  course  into 
classical  and  Latin-scientific  courses  before  he  is  ready  or 
his  advisers  sufficiently  informed  as  to  his  capabilities  to 
make  an  intelligent  choice.  The  committee  would  require 
in  each  course  a  maximum  of  twenty  recitation  periods  a 
week  ;  but  they  would  have  five  of  these  periods  devoted  to 
unprepared  work ;  and  would  reserve  double  periods  for 
laboratory  exercises  whenever  possible. 

Within  the  limitations  indicated  above,  as  to  continuity 
and  extensiveness  of  studies  in  each  of  the  broad  divisions 
of  knowledge,  the  committee  would  leave  to  the  individual 
student  and  his  advisers  the  largest  possible  freedom  in  the 
choice  of  studies.  With  reference  to  requirements  for  ad- 
mission to  college,  the  committee  recommend  "  that  the 
colleges  and  scientific  schools  of  the  country  should  accept 
for  admission  to  appropriate  courses  of  their  instruction  the 
attainments  of  any  youth  who  has  passed  creditably  through 
a  good  secondary  school  course,  no  matter  to  what  group  of 
subjects  he  may  have  mainly  devoted  himself  in  the  secon- 
dary school."  Describing  more  exactly  what  might  be  con- 
sidered "a  good  secondary  school  course"  for  this  purpose,  they 
propose  that  it  shall  consist  of  any  group  of  studies  from 
those  considered  by  the  sub-committees,  "  provided  that  the 
sum  of  the  studies  in  each  of  the  four  years  amounts  to  six- 
teen, or  eighteen,  or  twenty  periods  a  week,  —  as  may  be 
thought  best,  — and  provided,  further,  that  in  each  year  at 
least  four  of  the  principal  subjects  presented  shall  have  been 


384          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

pursued  at  least  three  periods  a  week,  and  that  at  least  three 
of  the  subjects  shall  have  been  pursued  three  years  or 
more." 

This  report  called  forth  a  very  spirited  discussion.  The 
definite  courses  of  study  which  the  committee  suggested 
have  not  been  generally  adopted ;  nor  have  college  admis- 
sion requirements  been  made  uniform  in  the  manner  which 
it  proposed.  But  its  influence  has  been  widespread  and 
pervasive.1 

Since  the  early  days  of  the  academies,  it  has  been  cus- 
tomary in  many  schools  to  offer  alternative  courses,  one 
of  them  classical,  the  other  "  modern."  Other  options  have 
been  added  from  time  to  time,  so  that  now  a  large  school 
commonly  offers  several  parallel  courses.  But  especially 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  there  has  appeared  a  strong 
demand  that  instead  of  a  choice  of  curriculums  the  students 
be  offered  a  wide  range  of  choice  in  particular  subjects. 

Several  influences  have  combined  to  bring  about  this 
demand.  The  general  adoption  of  an  elective  system  in  the 
colleges  may  be  mentioned.  School  men  have  objected  to 
close  prescription  in  high  schools  when  freedom  is  increasing 
in  the  higher  institutions.  The  conviction  that  the  secon- 
dary schools  should  not  be  merely  tributary  to  the  colleges 
is  gaining  ground.  The  independence  of  the  secondary 
school  carries  with  it  independent  responsibility  for  the 
supply  of  the  actual  educational  needs  of  the  youth  attend- 
ing such  a  school.  What  is  good  education  in  the  high 
school,  it  is  maintained,  is  good  preparation  for  the  higher 
schools.  And  the  students  in  the  high  schools  are  thought 
to  have  reached  the  stage  of  differentiation  of  educational 
needs.  The  need  of  the  state,  moreover,  wrhich  education 
must  satisfy,  is  the  need  of  full,  spiritual  unity  underlying 
the  utmost  diversity  of  talent  and  culture.  The  elementary 
schools,  with  their  single  course  of  study,  are  conservators 
of  spiritual  unity.  The  secondary  schools  can  and  should 
serve  a  different  purpose.  Their  instruction  should  be 

1  See  Bibliographical  notes  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  385 

adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  the  diverse  talents  of  the  youth 
enrolled  in  them.     No  two  students  have  exactly  the  same 
aptitudes  ;  so  far  as  possible  every  student  should  pursue  a  f 
different   course   of   instruction  from  every  other   student.  • 
So  the  arguments  run. 

It  will  be  seen  that  one  tendency  of  this  doctrine  is  to 
substitute  a  quantitative  for  a  qualitative  consideration  of 
the  curriculum.  The  most  diverse  subjects  are  held  to  be 
equivalent  for  the  purposes  of  general  culture,  if  pursued  for 
equal  periods  of  time  under  equally  favorable  conditions. 
A  high  school  course,  under  this  system,  would  consist  of  a 
ftxed  number  of  units  of  study,  to  be  chosen  at  will  from 
the  whole  number  of  studies  taught  in  the  school.  Certain 
utterances  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  have  tended  to  strengthen 
this  quantitative  view  of  the  curriculum.  It  received  early 
reinforcement,  also,  from  some  prominent  institutions  of 
higher  instruction,  as  the  Indiana  and  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  Universities.  For  a  number  of  years,  these  institu- 
tions have  stated  their  admission  requirements  for  the  most 
part  in  quantitative  terms.1 

A  later  attempt  at  an  adjustment  of  the  relations  of 
secondary  schools  and  colleges,  to  the  educational  advantage 
of  both,  has  given  us  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  College 
Entrance  Eequirements.  In  1895,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Professor  William  Carey  Jones,  the  National  Educational 
Association,  through  its  departments  of  Secondary  Education 

1  The  doctrine  of  "  formal  discipline,"  which  was  widely  influential  in 
German  education  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  has  for  the 
most  part  been  in  disfavor  in  American  educational  theory  within  the  past 
few  years.  Does  not  the  movement  toward  free  election  of  studies  in  general 
culture  courses  imply  the  revival  of  that  doctrine  in  a  new  form  ?  The  amount  |l  \ 
of  study  and  the  excellence  of  the  instruction  are  taken  as  elements  of  the  first  ' 
importance,  while  the  content  of  the  studies  pursued  is  treated  as  relatively 
unimportant.  Compare,  on  different  aspects  of  this  question,  RUSSELL, 
German  higher  schools,  ch.  13  ;  HINSDALE,  The  dogma  of  formal  discipline,  in 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.  session  of  1894,  pp.  625-635,  and  Ed.  Rev.,  VIII.,  pp.  128-142, 
September,  1894  ;  ELIOT,  A  ivider  range  of  eleclivcs  in  college  admission  require- 
ments, in  his  Educational  reform,  pp.  375-391,  and  Ed.  Rev.,  XL,  pp.  417-432, 
May,  1896. 

25 


386          THE  MAKltiG  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

and  Higher  Education,  appointed  a  committee  to  consider 
the  specific  question  of  the  unification  of  college  entrance 
requirements.  This  committee,  as  finally  constituted,  con- 
sisted of  fourteen  members,  representing  the  high  schools 
and  universities  of  different  sections  of  the  country,  under 
the  chairmanship  of  Dr.  A.  F.  Nightingale,  then  superin- 
tendent of  high  schools  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  The  first 
important  service  rendered  by  the  committee  was  the  prep- 
aration and  publication  of  a  table  showing  the  actual 
entrance  requirements  of  sixty-seven  representative  colleges, 
universities,  and  higher  technical  schools  in  the  United 
States.1 

The  committee's  final  report  was  presented  at  the  meeting 
of  the  National  Association  in  July,  1899.  This  report  is 
mainly  devoted  to  tl}e  attempt  to  establish  "  national  units, 
or  norms  "  in  the  several  subjects  taught  in  the  secondary 
schools  as  preparatory  to  college  matriculation.  The  funda- 
mental problem  "  is  to  formulate  courses  of  study  in  each 
of  the  several  subjects  of  the  curriculum  which  shall  be 
substantially  equal  in  value,  the  measure  of  value  being 
both  quantity  and  quality  of  work  done.  ...  It  is  not  to 
be  expected,  nor  is  it  to  be  desired,  that  all  colleges  should 
make  the  same  entrance  requirements,  nor  is  it  to  be 
expected  that  all  schools  will  have  the  same  program  of 
studies.  What  is  to  be  desired,  and  what  the  committee 
hopes  may  become  true,  is  that  the  colleges  will  state  their 
entrance  requirements  in  terms  of  national  units,  or  norms, 
and  that  the  schools  will  build  up  their  program  of  studies 
out  of  units  furnished  by  these  separate  courses  of  study." 
This  hope  is  reinforced  by  experience  with  college  entrance 
requirements  in  English,  which  have  within  the  past  few 
years  become  nearly  uniform  throughout  the  country,  on 
the  basis  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Commission  of 
Colleges  in  New  England  on  Admission  Examinations. 

1  See  Preliminary  report  of  the  Committee  on  College  Entrance  Requirements, 
in  The  School  Review,  IV.,  pp.  341-412  ;  and  Report  of  the  chairman,  Id.,  pp. 
415-423.  Subsidiary  reports  are  presented,  /a.,  pp.  424-460,  June,  1896. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  387 

In  the  determination  of  these  norms,  the  committee 
received  assistance  from  several  bodies  of  expert  scholars  in 
the  several  branches  of  instruction.  The  American  Philo- 
logical Association  proposed  courses  of  study  in  Latin  and 
Greek.  The  Modern  Language  Association  of  America 
rendered  a  like  service  with  reference  to  the  French  and 
German  languages.  The  American  Historical  Association 
and  the  Chicago  Section  of  the  American  Mathematical 
Society  reported  on  courses  in  history  and  mathematics. 
And  the  Department  of  Natural-Science  Instruction  of  the 
National  Educational  Association  presented  recommenda- 
tions relating  to  physical  geography,  chemistry,  botany, 
zoology,  and  physics.  These  several  supplemental  papers 
are  published  in  connection  with  the  committee's  report. 
The  committee  express  general  approval  of  the  courses 
recommended  in  these  papers,  suggest  some  slight  modifica- 
tions, and  offer  an  independent  report  on  the  subject  of 
English.  Their  further  recommendations  are  summed  up 
in  fourteen  resolutions,  of  which  the  following,  while  not 
very  clearly  expressed,  seem  to  be  of  the  greatest  general 
significance : 

"  I.  That  the  principle  of  election  be  recognized  in  secondary 
schools." 

"  IV.  That  we  favor  a  unified  six-year  high-school  course  of 
study  beginning  with  the  seventh  grade." 

"  VI.  That,  while  the  committee  recognizes  as  suitable  for 
recommendation  by  the  colleges  for  admission  the  several  studies 
enumerated  in  this  report,  and  while  it  also  recognizes  the  principle 
of  large  liberty  to  the  students  in  secondary  schools,  it  does  not 
believe  in  unlimited  election,  but  especially  emphasizes  the  import- 
ance of  a  certain  number  of  constants  in  all  secondary  schools  and 
in  all  requirements  for  admission  to  college. 

"  That  the  committee  recommends  that  the  number  of  constants 
be  recognized  in  the  following  proportion,  namely  :  four  units  in 
foreign  languages  (no  language  accepted  in  less  than  two  units), 
two  units  in  mathematics,  two  in  English,  one  in  history,  and  one 
in  science." 


388          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

11 XII.  That  we  recommend  that  any  piece  of  work  comprehended 
within  the  studies  included  in  this  report  that  has  covered  at  least 
one  year  of  four  periods  a  week  in  a  well-equipped  secondary 
school,  under  competent  instruction,  should  be  considered  worthy 
to  count  toward  admission  to  college." 

The  committee  disclaim  any  implication  that  different 
subjects  may  be  regarded  as  educationally  equivalent.  "  This 
proposition  [resolution  XII.],"  they  say,  "does  not  involve 
of  itself,  necessarily,  the  idea  that  all  subjects  are  of  equal 
cultural  or  disciplinary  value,  .  .  .  yet  the  advantages  to 
our  educational  system  of  the  adoption  of  this  principle  will 
be  so  great  as  far  to  outweigh  any  incidental  disadvantage 
which  may  accrue  from  accepting  as  of  equal  value  for 
college  purposes  the  more  or  less  unequal  values  represented 
by  these  studies." 

The  first  important  general  movement  looking  to  an 
improvement  of  the  relations  between  colleges  and  sec- 
ondary schools  through  a  reform  in  the  conduct  of  entrance 
examinations,  was  inaugurated  by  the  Association  of  Colleges 
and  Preparatory  Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland. 
At  the  meeting  of  this  body  in  December,  1899,  Professor 
(now  President)  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  read  a  paper  in 
which  he  advocated  a  certain  degree  of  uniformity  in  college 
entrance  requirements,  and  the  setting  up  of  a  common 
board  of  examiners.  "  It  has  long  been  my  belief,"  said  Dr. 
Butler,  "  that  most  of  the  difficulties  which  have  attended 
and  still  attend  the  relations  between  secondary  schools  and 
colleges  grow  out  of  what  may  properly  be  called  uur  educa- 
tional atomism.  Each  institution  plays  for  its  own  hand, 
and  consults  first  what  it  rightly  or  wrongly  feels  to  be  its 
own  peculiar  interests.  ...  It  is  my  present  purpose  to 
.  .  .  contrast  with  the  prevailing  atomistic  view,  what  may 
be  described  as  an  organic  or  institutional  view,  .  .  .  and  to 
draw  the  conclusion  that,  when  co-operation  with  other  col- 
leges is  demonstrably  in  the  public  interest,  such  co-opera- 
tion is  a  duty." 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  389 

The  plan  of  co-operation  that  he  proposed  was  embodied 
in  a  set  of  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted 
by  the  association.  This  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  steps 
which  led  to  the  organization,  November  17,  1900,  of  the 
College  Entrance  Examination  Board  of  the  Middle  States 
1  and  Maryland.  This  board  appointed  three  examiners  in 
each  of  the  nine  principal  subjects  entering  into  college 
admission  requirements,  two  of  the  examiners  in  each  group 
being  college  instructors  and  the  third  a  secondary  school 
principal  or  teacher.  These  examiners  prepared  the  ques- 
tions to  be  set  in  their  several  subjects,  arid  issued  detailed 
instructions  for  the  guidance  of  the  readers  of  the  answer- 
books  of  those  taking  the  examination. 

The  first  examination  under  this  arrangement  was  held 
the  week  beginning  June  17,  1901.  The  questions  had 
been  sent  out  to  various  centres,  at  which  those  taking  the 
examination  might  assemble.  The  examination  accordingly 
took  place  simultaneously  at  sixty-seven  points  in  the 
United  States,  and  two  in  Europe,  and  was  taken  by  a  total 
of  973  candidates.  Over  forty  colleges  and  universities, 
many  of  them  outside  of  the  territory  directly  represented 
by  the  examination  board,  declared  their  willingness  to 
accept  the  board's  examinations  as  satisfactory  substitutes 
for  their  own,  in  the  topics  covered,  and  three  institutions 
in  the  city  of  New  York  took  the  further  step  of  dispensing 
with  their  own  separate  examinations.1 

Such  an  arrangement  as  this  had  been  previously  pro- 
posed by  President  Eliot,  of  Harvard  University.  It  seems 
altogether  probable  that  the  movement  thus  begun  in  the 
middle  states  will  extend  to  other  portions  of  the  country, 
and  will  in  time  do  away  with  the  separate  entrance  exami- 
nations of  our  several  colleges.  It  involves  many  possible 
dangers,  but  as  an  improvement  upon  the  system  which 
exposed  the  secondary  schools  to  all  of  the  infelicities 
connected  with  separate  examinations  at  all  of  the  higher 

1  Proceedings  of  the  13th  annual  convention  of  the  Association  .  .  .  of  the 
Middle  States  and  Maryland.  Also,  First  annual  report  of  the  secretary,  etc. 


390          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

institutions,  with   their   many  divergences  and  occasional 
whimsicalities,  it  is  an  undertaking  of  very  great  significance. 

The  North  Central  Association  of  Colleges  and  Secondary 
Schools  has  taken  action  looking  to  the  unifying  of  the 
several  agencies  for  the  inspection  and  accrediting  of  schools 
which  are  now  at  work  in  the  field  covered  by  that  organi- 
zation. At  the  suggestion  of  Professor  S.  A.  Forbes,  dean 
of  the  college  of  science  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  a 
Commission  on  Accredited  Schools  was  appointed  in  1901, 
whose  duties  are  enumerated  as  follows : 

"  1.  To  define  and  describe  unit  courses  of  study  in  the  various 
subjects  of  the  high  school  programme,  taking  for  the  point  of 
departure  the  recommendations  of  the  National  Committee  of 
Thirteen ; 1 

"  2.  To  serve  as  a  standing  committee  on  uniformity  of  ad- 
mission requirements  for  the  colleges  and  universities  of  the 
Association ; 

"3.  To  take  steps  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  standards  and 
methods,  and  economy  of  labor  and  expense,  in  the  work  of  high 
school  inspection ; 

"  4.  To  prepare  a  list  of  high  schools  within  the  territory  of  the 
Association  which  are  entitled  to  the  accredited  relationship ; 

"5.  To  formulate  and  report  methods  and  standards  for  the 
assignment  of  college  credit  for  good  high  school  work  done  in 
advance  of  the  college  entrance  requirement." 

This  commission  was  constituted  of  representatives,  in 
equal  proportions,  of  the  colleges  and  the  secondary  schools, 
about  forty  members  in  all,  with  Professor  Harry  Pratt 
Judson,  dean  of  the  faculties  of  arts,  literature,  and  science 
in  the  University  of  Chicago,  as  its  chairman.  Its  first 
report  was  presented  at  the  meeting  of  the  association  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  March,  1902. 

In  the  definition  and  description  of  unit  courses  of  study, 
this  report  follows,  in  the  main,  the  Committee  on  College- 
Entrance  Eequirements  and  the  College  Entrance  Examina- 

1  I  suppose  the  Committee  on  College-Entrance  Requirements  is  intended. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  391 

tion  Board.  It  recommends  that  college  credit  be  allowed 
for  certain  kinds  of  advanced  work  done  in  secondary  schools, 
and  proposes  regulations  to  be  observed  in  the  granting  of 
such  credit.  It  recommends  further  that  the  schools  be 
adequately  equipped  with  libraries  and  laboratories,  and  be 
taught  by  college-bred  teachers,  specially  trained  in  the 
subjects  which  they  teach,  and  not  required  to  give  instruc- 
tion for  more  than  five  recitation  periods  a  day. 

Especial  interest  attaches  to  its  recommendations  touching 
the  inspection  of  high  schools.  Here  it  is  proposed : 

"4.  That  a  Board  of  Inspectors  should  be  appointed  by  the 
Commission  to  ascertain  the  schools  within  the  territory  of  the 
North  Central  Association  which  are  entitled  to  accredited 
relationship.  .  .  . 

"5.  That  the  Commission  cause  to  be  printed  and  distributed 
to  the  several  inspectors,  for  the  use  of  high  schools  and  academies, 
certain  uniform  blanks,  with  the  intent  to  secure  uniformity  and 
to  avoid  duplication  of  work." 

It  is  further  provided  that  the  Board  of  Inspectors  shall 
present  their  list  of  recommended  schools  to  the  Commission 
by  June  first  of  each  year,  and  that  the  Commission  shall 
publish  the  list  by  June  tenth  of  each  year. 

This  report  was  adopted  by  the  association,  and  a  Board 
of  Inspectors  was  constituted,  consisting  of  Inspectors  Whit- 
ney of  Michigan,  Brown  of  Iowa,  Aiton  of  Minnesota,  Brooks 
of  Illinois,  and  Hoge  of  Missouri.1 

It  is  an  important  undertaking  which  this  commission 
has  in  hand.  In  the  words  of  one  of  the  officers  of  the 
North  Central  Association,  "It  represents  the  attitude  of 
the  West  as  distinctly  as  the  Examination  Board  of  the 
Middle  States  represents  the  attitude  of  the  East."  Every- 
thing will  depend  upon  the  effectiveness  of  its  system  of 
school  visitation.  From  the  standpoint  of  college  and  uni- 

1  MS.  summary  of  the  report  and  of  the  action  taken  in  accordance  with 
its  provisions,  by  Director  G.  N.  Carman,  of  Lewis  Institute,  Chicago,  secre- 
tary of  the  commission. 


392          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

versity  scholarship,  a  system  of  entrance  examinations  will 
probably  have  the  advantage  over  the  accrediting  system 
wherever  there  is  any  lack  of  thoroughness  in  the  inspection 
of  schools. 

It  is  fortunate  that  the  accrediting  plan  and  the  examina- 
tion plan  are  to  have  a  fair  trial,  side  by  side,  on  a  large 
scale,  and  each  under  a  comprehensive  scheme.  It  is  for- 
tunate, too,  that  both  schemes  as  now  under  way  make 
provision  for  co-operation  between  the  secondary  and  the 
higher  schools.  It  is  hardly  to  be  expected  or  desired  that 
either  organization  should  simply  triumph  over  the  other 
in  the  competition  of  purposes  and  methods.  It  is  more 
likely  that  each  will  learn  from  the  other,  and  from  its 
own  experience ;  and  that  the  outcome  will  be  something 
better  than  the  promoters  of  either  enterprise  have  as 
yet  proposed. 


CHAPTEE  XVIII 
RECENT  TENDENCIES  —  Continued 

THE  endeavor  to  adjust  our  secondary  schools  to  the  chang- 
ing needs  of  American  life,  has  had  its  influence  upon 
curriculums,  but  has  appeared  most  conspicuously  in  the 
differentiation  of  schools. 

The  old  grammar  schools  represented  the  classical  trend 
and  tone  in  education ;  the  academies  showed  the  influence 
of  the  new  romantic  ideals ;  the  high  schools  had  a  touch  of 
realism  from  the  start,  which  hardly  came  to  its  full  develop- 
ment, however,  until  the  present  generation.  The  schools 
had  worked  down  and  down  to  larger  and  larger  social 
grades  and  divisions,  till  they  had  come  to  be,  in  a  sense,  a 
concern  of  the  whole  people.  The  educational  movement 
became  so  comprehensive  in  its  range,  that  it  em- 
braced a  multitude  of  diverse  aims  and  aspirations.  The 
old  academies  had  shown  great  flexibility  in  their  systems 
of  organization  and  instruction  ;  but  numerous  variants  from 
the  dominant  type  arose  in  their  day,  as  we  have  seen. 
Some  of  these  variants  were  solitary  institutions ;  some 
belonged  to  movements  which  soon  brought  forth  many 
schools,  alike  in  some  characteristic  feature;  while  one 
movement,  that  which  gave  us  the  public  high  schools, 
outgrew  and  overshadowed  all  that  the  academies  had 
done,  and  gave  a  different  and  probably  more  lasting  charac- 
ter to  our  general  provision  for  secondary  education. 

The  high  schools,  too,  have  shown  great  adaptability  to 
varying  needs  and  conditions.  But  they  have  failed  to  meet 
all  demands  for  secondary  education,  and  we  have  seen 
private  schools  of  many  sorts  —  some  under  ecclesiastical 


394          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

control,  some  managed  by  private  corporations,  some  owned 
and  conducted  by  individuals  in  their  purely  private  capac- 
ity—  growing  up  and  flourishing  alongside  of  the  public 
schools.  These  schools,  both  public  and  private,  have  been 
busily  engaged  in  the  attempt  to  satisfy  the  great  diversity 
of  public  taste  and  need  in  this  domain,  and  their  varied 
activities  have  served  to  render  our  secondary  education 
increasingly  interesting  and  significant. 

One  of  the  notable  tendencies  of  the  past  forty  years  is 
seen  in  the  growth  of  large  boarding  schools  under  Episco- 
palian management.  This  movement  is  commonly  traced 
back  to  a  beginning  in  the  Flushing  Institute  and  St.  Paul's 
College,  on  Long  Island.  The  Flushing  Institute  was  under 
the  control  of  a  private  corporation,  apparently  organized  as 
a  joint  stock  company.  But  its  whole  educational  manage- 
ment was  in  the  hands  of  the  Kev.  William  Augustus  Muh- 
lenberg,  a  man  of  marked  and  winning  personality,  who  rose 
to  distinction  in  several  spheres  of  activity.1  Beginning 
as  a  boarding  school  for  boys  in  1828,  it  grew  into  a  college 
ten  years  later.  In  the  eighteen  years  that  Dr.  Muhlenberg 
was  at  the  head  of  the  institution,  about  nine  hundred  stu- 
dents came  under  his  instruction.  Among  these  were  John 
Jay,  Eichard  Grant  White,  three  prospective  bishops  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church,  and  others  who  became  emi- 
nent in  various  fields  of  usefulness.  The  college  was  owned 
and  controlled  by  Dr.  Muhlenberg  alone.  It  was  continued 
for  three  or  four  years  after  he  left  it  to  enter  a  pastorate  in 
New  York,  and  then  was  closed  and  the  property  sold. 

Dr.  Muhlenberg  regarded  his  school  as  his  family.  He 
was  to  each  of  the  boys  in  loco  parentis,  and  the  paternal 
type  of  boarding  school  management  which  he  represented 
has  entered  largely  into  the  conduct  of  other  institutions. 
"  Schools  modelled,  so  far  as  might  be,  after  St.  Paul's,"  says 
his  biographer,  "had  sprung  up  in  all  directions.  Every 
diocese  became  ambitious  to  have  one,  and  bishops  and 

1  He  is  perhaps  most  widely  known  as  the  author  of  "  I  would  not  live 
alway,"  and  other  Christian  hymns. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  395 

doctors  of  the  church  had  resorted  to  College  Point,  and 
sat  at  his  feet,  as  learners  of  his  methods."  St.  James  Col- 
lege, at  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  was  one  of  the  most  note- 
worthy of  these  new  schools.1 

A  little  later  this  movement,  to  which  Dr.  Muhlenberg 
had  given  so  great  an  impetus,  resulted  in  the  founding  of  a 
school  which  has  lived  and  prospered  to  the  present  time 
That  is  the  St.  Paul's  School,  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire, 
in  some  sense  the  patriarch  among  the  schools  of  this  class. 
Dr.  George  Cheyne  Shattuck,  a  former  pupil  of  the  Round 
Hill  School  at  Northampton,  was  the  founder  of  this  school. 
It  was  declared  in  the  deed  of  gift,  by  which  he  conveyed  a 
valuable  piece  of  real  estate  to  the  trustees  whom  he  had 
chosen,  that,  "  We  are  desirous  of  endowing  a  school  of  the 
highest  class,  for  boys,  in  which  they  may  obtain  an  educa- 
tion which  shall  fit  them  either  for  college  or  business ;  in- 
cluding thorough  intellectual  training  in  the  various  branches 
of  learning;  gymnastic  and  manly  exercises  adapted  to  pre- 
serve health  and  strengthen  the  physical  condition;  such 
aesthetic  culture  and  accomplishments  as  shall  tend  to 
refine  the  manners  and  elevate  the  taste,  together  with 
careful  moral  and  religious  instruction." 

The  first  rector  of  this  school,  who  stamped  his  character 
and  ideals  upon  its  whole  organization,  was  the  Eev.  Henry 
Augustus  Coit,  a  former  student  under  Dr.  Muhlenberg  at 
College  Point,  and  sometime  instructor  in  the  College  of 
St.  James,  at  Hagerstown.  He  presided  over  the  institution 
from  its  opening,  in  1856,  down  to  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
1895.  Under  his  management  it  went  steadily  forward,  in 
attendance,  equipment,  and  teaching  force.  In  1860  it  had 
six  masters  and  43  boys;  in  1870,  nine  masters  and  100 
boys ;  in  1880,  seventeen  masters  and  227  boys ;  in  189C, 
twenty-seven  masters  and  295  boys.  The  latest  catalogue 
shows  thirty-seven  masters  and  352  boys. 

There  is  much  in  this  school,  as  in  those  which  have 
followed  its  lead,  which  reminds  one  of  the  English  public 

1  AYRES,  Life  of  William  Augustus  Mithlenberg,  ch.  7-12. 


396          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

schools.  Not  only  its  distinctive  religious  character,  but  its 
school  nomenclature,  in  which  forms  and  removes  and  other 
old-time  expressions  appear,  and  its  pursuit  of  the  English 
game  of  cricket,  introduced  by  the  founder  himself  in  the 
earlier  days,  all  call  up  associations  with  Rugby  and  Harrow 
and  other  great  schools  of  the  mother  land.  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed,  however,  that  these  resemblances  indicate  a  pur- 
pose to  make  of  St.  Paul's  and  the  other  schools  of  its  class 
mere  imitations  of  their  English  prototypes.  It  is  more 
likely  that  these  American  schools,  having  received  inspira- 
tion and  suggestion  from  across  the  water,  are  working  them 
out  in  such  forms  as  American  conditioas  seem  to  call  for, 
and  that  the  occasional  reproduction  of  distinctively  English 
usages  is  a  mere  incident  of  the  process.  In  its  earlier  his- 
tory, the  school  year  at  St.  Paul's  lasted  from  December  to 
October,  with  a  brief  recess  in  May.  The  charges  for  tuition 
and  residence  were  three  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Since 
1864  these  charges  have  slowly  risen  «to  seven  hundred 
dollars.1 

St.  Mark's  School,  at  Southborough,  Massachusetts,  was 
founded  by  Joseph  Burnett,  in  1865.  It  is  said  that  its 
establishment  was  suggested  by  the  fact  that  the  dormito- 
ries of  St.  Paul's  School  were  already  full,  and  new  boys 
could  gain  admission  to  that  school  only  after  a  long  period 
of  waiting.  Beginning  with  twelve  boys,  St.  Mark's  soon 
had  to  build  a  new  dormitory  for  forty -five,  which  was  soon 
thereafter  enlarged  to  provide  for  sixty.  When  this  pro- 
vision was  again  increased,  in  1890,  and  one  hundred  boys 
were  accommodated,  that  number  was  fixed  as  the  final 
limit.  In  recent  years  this  limit  has  been  somewhat 
exceeded.  The  school  is  under  a  board  of  trustees,  who 
appoint  a  head-master  in  whom  the  actual  administration 
is  vested.  The  bishop  of  the  diocese  (Protestant  Episcopal) 
is  visitor  of  the  school.2 

1  LAMBERTON,  St.  Paul's  Softool;  Statement  of  St.  Paul's  School  .  .  . 
1900-1901. 

a  St.  Mark's  School.  The  consecration  of  the  chapel,  etc.  Catalogue  of  the 
school  for  1901-1902. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  397 

The  Shattuck  School,  at  Faribault,  Minnesota,  named  for 
the  founder  of  St.  Paul's  School,  took  definite  shape  in 
1867.1  Groton  School,  at  Groton,  Massachusetts,  took  its 
place  in  this  sequence  of  foundations  in  1884  ;2  and  others 
have  followed  in  their  line. 

This  notable  group  of  Episcopalian  schools  is  representa- 
tive of  a  larger  class  of  boarding  schools,  under  various 
forms  of  control,  which  have  been  growing  up  in  recent 
years.  Another  important  institution  of  this  class  is  the 
Lawrenceville  School,  established  on  the  John  C.  Green 
foundation  at  Lawrenceville,  New  Jersey,  in  1883,  in  which 
the  household  or  cottage  system  of  school  management  has 
been  carried  to  a  high  development. 

The  military  ideal  in  education  was  quickened  by  the 
experiences  of  our  Civil  War.  It  has  reappeared  in  the 
organization  of  school  battalions  in  a  number  of  high  schools, 
from  Boston  to  San  Francisco ;  in  ecclesiastical  schools,  like 
that  at  Faribault;  and  in  other  institutions  under  various 
forms  of  private  control.  Many  schools  have  been  estab- 
lished in  which  the  military  organization  is  riot  simply  one 
aspect  of  the  life  of  the  institution,  but  gives  it  instead  its 
dominant  character.  The  Michigan  Military  Academy,  on 
the  shore  of  Orchard  Lake,  may  be  mentioned  as  an  example 
of  this  type  of  institution.  Colonel  Rogers  established  this 
school  in  1877,  proposing  to  make  of  it  an  institution  in 
which  boys  should  be  put  through  a  course  of  effective  mili- 
tary training,  and  at  the  same  time  be  fitted  for  admission 
to  the  leading  colleges,  both  east  and  west.  The  school 
made  its  way  quickly  into  public  favor,  and  has  had  a  highly 
interesting  career.3 

One  recent  foundation  is  so  unique  and  of  such  great 
proportions  that  it  can  hardly  be  passed  by  in  such  an 
account  as  this.  The  Jacob  Tome  Institute,  founded  in  1889, 

1  Shattuck  School,  .  .  .  its  history,  etc. 

2  Catalogue  of  the  school  for  1901-1902. 

8  See  the  descriptive  and  historical  article  in  The  Interior  for  July  23, 
1896. 


398          THE  MAKING   OF   OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

at  Port  Deposit,  Maryland,  received  from  its  founder,  by 
gift  and  bequest,  a  sum  amounting  to  more  than  $2,500,000. 
The  character  of  this  Institute  can  hardly  be  set  forth,  for 
it  is  not  yet  clearly  determined ;  but  there  is  reason  to  hope 
that  the  management  will  make  of  it  in  time  a  very  impor- 
tant addition  to  our  provision  for  secondary  education.  At 
present,  a  free  elementary  school  is  maintained  by  the  corpo- 
ration, together  with  a  secondary  school  for  both  boys  and 
girls.  Instruction  in  this  "  Senior  School "  is  also  free  to 
residents  of  Maryland.  Others  pay  a  tuition  fee  of  one 
hundred  dollars  a  year,  with  an  additional  charge  of  three 
hundred  dollars  for  such  as  live  in  the  boarding  hall.  The 
act  of  incorporation  calls  for  instruction  not  only  in  the 
usual  school  studies,  but  also  in  manual  training,  and  in 
domestic  and  other  useful  arts.  Several  courses  of  instruc- 
tion have  accordingly  been  offered,  some  preparatory  to 
college  and  others  of  a  more  general  character,  besides 
courses  in  manual  training,  in  commerce,  and  in  art.  A 
school  of  commerce,  of  college  grade,  has  been  announced  as 
projected  but  has  not  yet  been  organized.1 

It  would  be  too  large  an  undertaking  to  give  any  account 
of  the  private  day  schools  which  have  grown  up  in  American 
cities  within  recent  years ;  yet  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that 
their  number  is  great  and  their  service  highly  important. 
Some  are  fitting  schools  for  college,  in  which  cramming  is 
carried  to  the  last  degree  of  refinement.  Some  are  fin- 
ishing schools  for  young  ladies,  which  attain  their  object 
beyond  all  question.  But  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that 
the  majority  of  these  schools  are  under  the  influence  of  a 
genuine  educational  purpose,  and  many  of  them  are  doing 
work  of  the  greatest  value,  as  is  shown  by  the  high  character 
and  sound  culture  of  students  whom  they  have  sent  out. 

The  Roman  Catholic  educational  movement  in  this  coun- 
try received  a  new  impetus  from  the  Third  Plenary  Coun- 
cil held  at  Baltimore  in  1884.  Parish  priests  were  solemnly 
charged  by  this  council  with  the  establishment  and  main- 

1  The  Jacob  Tome  Institute  .  .  .  prospectits  of  the  senior  school,  1901-1902. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  399 

tenance  of  parochial  schools,  and  Catholic  parents  directed 
to  send  their  children  to  such  schools,  except  in  special  cases. 
This  action  merely  followed  and  emphasized  that  of  the 
Second  Plenary  Council,  held  in  1866.  But  a  new  step 
of  great  significance  was  that  resulting  in  the  establish- 
ment, at  Washington,  D.  C.,  of  the  Catholic  University  of 
America,  which  was  opened  for  theological  students  in 
1889,  and  for  students  in  philosophy,  law,  and  technology 
in  1895. 

In  their  recent  development,  Catholic  schools  have  in 
several  particulars  been  frankly  assimilated  with  the  courses 
and  methods  of  the  public  schools  which  they  parallel. 
Under  the  lead  of  the  rector  of  the  Catholic  University,  an 
Association  of  Catholic  Colleges  of  the  United  States  has 
been  formed,  which  has  now  held  three  annual  conferences ; 
and  at  the  latest  of  these  conferences,  Bishop  Conaty, 
in  his  opening  address  as  presiding  officer,  urged  the  im- 
portance of  unifying  the  system  of  Catholic  education, 
through  a  more  complete  organization  of  high  schools, 
which  should  link  the  existing  parochial  schools  with  the 
Catholic  colleges. 

This  project  has  been  widely  discussed  of  late,  in  Catholic 
circles,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  next  important 
advance  in  Catholic  education  will  be  seen  in  the  more  gen- 
eral establishment  of  schools  of  this  kind.  The  Rev.  J.  A. 
Burns,  C.S.C.,  in  an  address  before  the  conference  men- 
tioned above,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that,  in  the  year 
1898-99,  there  were  646  boys  and  1,342  girls  in  the  53 
Catholic  high  schools  then  in  existence,  attached  to  elemen- 
tary schools.  He  argued  in  favor  of  the  building  up  of  such 
schools, "  as  the  connecting  link  between  parochial  school  and 
college."  He  would  make  them  "  a  system  of  schools 
parallel,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  to  the  system  of  public  high 
schools."  One  of  the  most  notable  steps  already  taken,  in 
the  direction  indicated  by  these  recent  utterances,  was  the 
establishment  several  years  ago  of  the  Cahill  High  School,  an 
endowed,  free,  Catholic  school,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 


400          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Similar  schools  have  been  established  at  Peoria,  Providence, 
and  elsewhere.1 

The  differentiation  of  schools  thus  far  considered  is  that 
on  the  side  of  private  establishments.  While  there  has  been 
a  notable  development  of  private  secondary  education,  in 
several  directions,  within  the  past  generation,  it  is  a  fact  of 
great  significance  that  this  movement  has  not  yet  begun  to 
compete  in  any  marked  degree  with  the  public  high  school 
movement.  Up  to  the  eighties  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
less  than  half  of  the  secondary  school  students  in  the  United 
States  were  in  public  high  schools.  Within  that  decade  the 
proportion  was  reversed.  In  the  year  1887-88  the  public 
schools  a.re  found  passing  their  competitors  for  the  first  time. 
In  1889-90  the  public  high  schools  contained  more  than 
two-thirds  of  our  secondary  school  students,  and  this  pro- 
portion has  increased  every  year  since  that  time,  so  far  as 
the  statistics  have  yet  been  published.  According  to  the 
latest  report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion, that  for  the  year  1899-1900,  82.41  per  cent  of  the 
secondary  school  students  in  the  United  States  were  in  pub- 
lic, and  17.59  in  private  schools. 

Other  differentiations  of  our  secondary  education  should 
be  briefly  noted,  the  most  of  which  have  affected  both  pub- 
lic schools  and  those  under  private  management.  And  first 
of  these,  the  provision  for  separate  schooling  of  boys  and 
girls.2  The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for 
1896-97  showed  a  total  of  5,109  public  high  schools  in  the 
whole  country,  of  which  35  were  for  boys  only,  26  for 
girls  only,  and  the  remainder  co-educational.  The  same 
report  showed  a  total  of  2,100  private  high  schools,  academies, 
etc.,  of  which  351  were  for  boys  only,  537  for  girls  only, 
and  1,212  co-educational. 

There  has  been  some  differentiation  of  secondary  schools 

1  See  Bibliographical  notes  at  the  end  of  tins  chapter. 

2  Historically,  of  course,  the  boys'  school  constitutes  the  original  stock, 
from  which  the  mixed  school  and  the  school  for  girls  have  been  split  off  at 
different  times. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  401 

on  the  color  line.  In  the  northern  and  western  states, 
white  and  colored  students,  where  there  are  colored  students 
"of  secondary  grade,  commonly  attend  the  same  schools.  But 
in  the  southern  states  separate  schools  are  provided  for  those 
of  African  race.  The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion for  1896-97  showed  169  schools  in  the  United  States 
for  the  secondary  and  higher  education  of  colored  youth 
(exclusively.  In  many  of  these  schools  both  grades  of  in- 
struction were  provided  in  the  same  institution.  About 
twenty  of  the  number  were  public  high  schools.  The 
remainder  were  private  or  denominational  institutions.  In 
these  169  schools,  15,203  colored  students  were  receiving 
instruction  of  secondary  grade.  The  report  for  1899-1900 
showed  that  5,075  colored  students  were  pursuing  secondary 

f  school  studies  in  public  high  schools  in  the  southern  states, 
and  3,320  in  such  schools  in  other  portions  of  the  Union. 
Another  special  type  of  school,  the  evening  high  school, 

t  has  been  established  in  a  number  of  our  larger  cities. 
Schools  of  this  sort  have  offered  very  elastic  courses  of 
study,  suited  to  the  varied  needs  of  their  clientage,  and 
have  been  a  great  boon  to  many  who  have  been  obliged 
to  work  by  day  after  the  completion  of  an  elementary 

'  school  course. 

The  European  manual  training  exhibits  at  the  Centennial 
Exhibition  in  Philadelphia,  in  1876,  gave  a  strong  impetus 
to  a  movement,  already  under  discussion  and  even  tenta- 
tively begun,  toward  the  establishment  of  manual  training 
schools  in  American  cities.  St.  Louis  took  a  step  forward, 
in  1879,  in  the  establishment  of  such  a  school  in  connection 
with  Washington  University.  In  1884  similar  schools 
were  established,  some  under  private  and  some  under  pub- 
lic control,  in  Baltimore,  Chicago,  Toledo,  New  York,  and 
Eau  Claire,  Wisconsin.  The  discussions  of  the  year  1882  in 
the  National  Educational  Association,  together  with  im- 
portant articles  in  the  great  public  journals,  had  given  new 
force  to  the  movement.  In  these  early  schools  the  idea  of 
manual  training  for  the  purposes  of  general  culture  was 

26 


402       THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

usually  uppermost,  their  projectors  disclaiming  any  inten- 
tion of  establishing  schools  for  the  teaching  of  trades.1 

More  recently,  trade  schools  have  been  established  in  the 
largest  cities,  but  for  the  most  part  under  private  initiative 
and  control.  A  notable  school  of  this  sort  is  the  California 
School  of  Mechanical  Arts,  established  at  San  Francisco  by 
James  Lick,  the  founder  of  the  Lick  Observatory.  Mr. 
Lick,  in  1875,  conveyed  to  certain  trustees  a  large  amount  of 
property,  to  be  devoted  to  various  public  uses.  He  directed 
that  the  sum  of  $540,000  should  be  set  aside  to  found  and 
endow  a  school  "  to  educate  males  and  females  in  the  prac- 
tical arts  of  life."  After  prolonged  litigation  the  school 
contemplated  in  this  gift  came  into  being  in  1895.  It  re- 
ceives pupils  who  have  finished  the  work  of  the  grammar 
school,  and  offers  them  a  course  of  instruction  and  training 
four  years  in  length.  Some  studies  of  a  general  character 
are  included  in  this  course ;  but  the  distinguishing  feature 
of  the  school  is  its  provision  for  technical  instruction 
preparatory  to  the  pursuit  of  several  of  the  common  mechan- 
ical trades.  Each  pupil  devotes  the  first  two  years  in 
the  school  to  laying  a  broad  foundation  in  drawing,  mathe- 
matics, natural  science,  and  general  manual  training,  and 
to  the  discovery  of  his  own  special  tastes  and  aptitudes. 
At  the  end  of  this  period  he  selects  the  trade  which  he  will 
pursue,  and  the  last  two  years  are  devoted  to  specific  prepa- 
ration for  the  practice  of  this  trade.  The  school  is  free 
to  boys  and  girls  from  any  part  of  California. 

The  Wilmerding  school,  established  in  1898  for  similar  pur- 
poses by  a  bequest  of  Mr.  J.  Clute  Wilmerding,  has  been  or- 
ganized in  such  close  connection  with  the  Lick  school  that 
the  two  may  be  conducted  on  a  co-operative  basis.  The 
Eegents  of  the  University  of  California  were  made  trustees 
of  the  fund  of  1400,000  bequeathed  by  Mr.  Wilmerding  to 
found  this  school. 

In  a  recent  address  before  the  Twentieth  Century  Club  of 
Boston,  President  Pritchett  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute 

1  WOODWARD,  Rise  and  progress  of  manual  training. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  403 

of  Technology  gave  an  interesting  survey  of  the  provision 
for  technical  instruction  and  training  for  particular  trades 
now  available  in  the  city  of  Boston.  Such  provision  is 
found  to  be  meagre  and  inadequate,  although  some  good 
beginnings  have  been  made.  President  Pritchett  called 
especial  attention  to  the  good  work  done  on  certain 
technical  lines  in  the  evening  classes  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Union, 
and  other  benevolent  and  private  organizations.1 

In  the  most  of  the  cities  of  the  country,  both  large  and 
small,  the  evening  classes  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  are  rendering  a  very  important  service,  offering 
as  they  do  both  technical  and  "  continuation  "  courses  in  a 
great  variety  of  subjects.  Such  classes  have  been  main- 
tained for  many  years  ;  but  they  have  been  greatly  extended 
and  improved  within  the  past  decade.  One  chief  influence 
furthering  this  new  development  emanated  from  the  Pratt 
Institute  in  Brooklyn.  The  International  Committee  of 
these  Associations  have  employed  a  secretary  to  foster  and 
systematize  this  side  of  their  varied  activity.  Their  state 
organizations  stimulate  and  unify  the  work  of  the  local 
Associations ;  and  the  local  Associations  themselves,  work- 
ing in  full  independence,  employ  skilled  directors  for  their 
educational  agencies,  offer  courses  in  such  subjects  as  are 
most  in  demand,  under  the  best  instructors  they  can  secure, 
conduct  regular  examinations,  and  issue  certificates  of  profi- 
ciency to  students  who  have  satisfied  strict  scholastic  require- 
ments.2 Other  religious  and  benevolent  societies  do  work  of 
a  somewhat  similar  sort,  though  generally  less  extensive  and 
systematic  than  that  of  the  organization  referred  to. 

1  Ed.  Rev.  for  March,  1902. 

2  The  supervision  of  this  work  was  undertaken  by  the  International  Com- 
mittee in  1893.     A  system  of  international  examinations  was  introduced  in 
1896.     In  1901,  there  were  380  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in 
North  America  which  maintained  educational  classes,  with  an  enrolment  of 
26,906  different  students.     Eighteen  educational   directors  were  employed. 
Annual  report  of  the  Secretary  (Mr.  George  B.  Hodge)  for  1901  ;  Prospectus 
for  1901-02. 


404          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  Pratt  Institute  is  itself  a  typical  instance  of  a  class 
of  large  urban  foundations  which  are  of  untold  value  as 
supplemental  agencies  of  education.  The  Cooper  Institute 
of  New  York  is  the  patriarch  of  such  establishments,  and 
the  Drexel  Institute  of  Philadelphia  is  another  notable 
example.  It  is  an  immensely  varied  work  which  is  done 
by  these  institutes,  and  each  has  followed  its  own  separate 
course  of  development.  But  their  activities  are  chiefly 
educational,  and  fall  largely  in  what  may  be  regarded  as 
the  field  of  secondary  education ;  more  particularly,  too,  in 
secondary  education  of  a  technical  sort. 

Commercial  subjects  have  a  large  place  in  the  courses 
offered  by  these  various  institutes  and  associations,  and  this 
side  of  vocational  instruction  calls  for  some  special  notice. 
For  several  generations,  book-keeping  and  other  subjects  of 
this  class  have  found  a  place,  rather  uncertain  and  variable, 
to  be  sure,  in  the  courses  of  study  of  secondary  schools.  In 
the  high  schools  and  in  many  private  schools,  regular  com- 
mercial courses  have  been  organized.  For  the  most  part, 
however,  such  courses  have  been  less  exacting  than  the 
main  courses  of  the  schools  in  which  they  have  been  offered, 
and  too  often  they  have  been  the  last  resort  of  lazy  or  in- 
competent students.  Not  infrequently,  too,  they  have  been 
short  courses,  only  one  year  or  two  years  in  length.  There 
have  been  honorable  exceptions,  but  on  the  whole  these 
commercial  courses  have  proved  unsatisfactory. 

There  has  been,  however,  a  real  and  insistent  demand  for 
distinctively  commercial  education,  and  this  has  been  met 
in  part  by  private  schools,  "  business  colleges,"  of  varying 
degrees  of  excellence,  which  have  appeared  in  most  of  the 
larger  cities  of  the  country.  Among  the  institutions  of 
higher  education,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  with  its 
Wharton  School,  stood  alone  in  its  provision  for  the  ad- 
vanced study  of  commercial  operations,  until  the  closing 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  a  movement  appeared 
almost  simultaneously  in  a  number  of  our  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, looking  to  the  making  of  provision,  on  a  high 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  405 

plane  of  efficiency,  for  studies  of  this  kind.  A  new  interest 
has  arisen,  too,  in  commercial  education  of  the  secondary 
grade.  The  setting  up  of  a  Business  High  School  in  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Columbia,  is  one  indication  of  such  inter- 
est. Of  much  greater  significance  is  the  establishment  of  a 
High  School  of  Commerce  by  the  Board  of  Education  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  This  school  will  be  opened  in  the  fall  of 
1902,  under  the  principalship  of  Mr.  J.  J.  Shepard,  and  pro- 
vided with  a  corps  of  thirty  instructors.  A  new  building  is 
in  process  of  erection  for  its  use.  The  school  will  offer  a 
course  seven  years  in  length,  resting  upon  the  ordinary 
elementary  instruction  offered  in  the  primary  and  grammar 
schools. 

These  few  pages  have  given  but  the  merest  hint  of  the 
varied  development  of  our  secondary  schools  in  recent  years, 
but  to  go  at  all  fully  into  the  subject  would  add  unduly  to 
the  bulk  of  this  volume.  In  bringing  our  survey  of  this 
class  of  recent  tendencies  to  a  close,  it  will  be  well  to  make 
note  of  the  new  movements  affecting  secondary  education  in 
our  great  and  growing  cities. 

The  increasing  demand  for  high  school  instruction  in  our 
cities  within  recent  years,  has  taxed  to  the  utmost  the  inge- 
nuity and  the  resources  of  those  officially  charged  with  the 
management  of  public  schools.  New  problems  not  a  few 
have  presented  themselves.  At  what  point  does  the  central- 
ization of  high  school  instruction  in  a  single  school  cease  to 
be  economical  or  of  educational  advantage  ?  When  more 
than  one  high  school  is  provided,  may  the  division  best  be 
made  on  territorial  lines,  or  according  to  the  sex  or  the 
special  pursuits  of  the  students  to  be  accommodated  ?  What 
system  of  supervision  will  best  regulate  the  common  inter- 
ests of  all  such  schools  and  their  relations  one  to  another  ? 
What  principles  shall  guide  in  the  distribution  of  funds 
among  the  several  schools  ?  Questions  such  as  these,  for 
the  most  part  new  in  this  generation,  have  come  up  for 
answer.  And  each  community  has  answered  them,  provi- 
sionally at  least,  in  its  own  way,  under  the  influence  of 


406          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

numberless  local  conditions.  The  different  solutions  reached 
in  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco,  Denver,  Cincinnati, 
Boston,  Baltimore,  and  a  score  of  other  cities,  are  full  of 
interest,  and  might  well  fill  a  volume  on  The  new  systems  of 
high  school  administration.  Such  a  volume  should  deal 
also  with  the  varying  duties  of  high  school  principals,  the 
departmental  organization  of  instruction,  the  thousand-and- 
one  questions  relating  to  high  school  buildings  and  the 
equipment  and  management  of  workshops  and  laboratories. 

This  work  cannot  attempt  even  a  superficial  account  of 
these  things.  Some  little  attention  should  be  given,  how- 
ever, to  the  new  high  school  system  of  the  metropolis,  which 
in  its  rapid  development  is  probably  without  a  parallel  in 
the  history  of  education. 

From  1870,  when  the  Normal  College  was  established, 
down  to  1897,  when  the  new  high  schools  were  opened,  the 
public  provision  for  secondary  education  in  what  is  now  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  was  substantially  as 
follows :  The  Free  Academy,  now  become  the  City  College, 
could  care  for  a  limited  number  of  boys,  giving  them  a 
course  leading  to  an  academic  degree.  The  Normal  College 
offered  secondary  instruction,  with  a  professional  bent,  to  girls 
who  wished  to  become  teachers.  And  there  was  an  evening 
high  school,  which  provided  a  continuation  course  for  such 
as  had  completed  their  elementary  studies,  and  were  now 
occupied  during  the  day  with  the  duties  of  active  life. 

The  City  College  and  the  Normal  College  took  the  best 
of  those  who  offered  themselves  for  admission,  but  they  had 
accommodations  for  only  a  small  fraction  of  those  who  had 
finished  the  elementary  school  course  and  wished  to  go  on 
with  higher  studies.  It  does  not  appear  clearly  why  these 
facilities  had  not  been  enlarged  to  meet  the  growing  need. 
There  was  probably  an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  succes- 
sive school  boards  to  devote  public  funds  to  secondary  edu- 
cation when  so  many  children  were  continuously  unprovided 
with  opportunities  for  even  primary  instruction.  But  the 
countless  other  influences  which  must  have  been  at  work, 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  407 

no  one  outside  of  the  City  of  New  York  may  ever  hope  to 
untangle. 

There  had  grown  up  in  the  meantime  within  the  city  a 
noteworthy  group  of  secondary  schools  under  private  con- 
trol, some  of  which  had  a  national  reputation.  The  school 
of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  established  in  1633  for  ele- 
mentary instruction,  was  still  alive,  and  had  grown  into 
the  Collegiate  School,  for  the  secondary  education  of  boys. 
Trinity  School,  another  colonial  establishment  for  elemen- 
tary instruction,  had  also  become  an  important  secondary 
school.  The  old  Columbia  Grammar  School,  which  shares 
in  the  classical  reputation  of  Professor  Anthon,  continued 
its  work,  though  no  longer  connected  with  Columbia  College. 
There  were  such  schools  for  girls  as  Mrs.  Reed's,  Miss 
Spence's,  the  Misses  Ely's,  the  Brearley  schools,  and  many 
others  well  known  in  the  city  and  far  beyond  its  limits  as 
well ;  and  boys'  schools,  without  a  colonial  history,  were 
making  a  strong  modern  record  —  the  Cutler  School,  the 
school  of  John  Browning,  and  several  others;  while  the 
two  schools  of  Dr.  Sachs  were  making  separate  provision 
for  both  boys  and  girls. 

There  remained,  however,  the  growing  demand  for  free 
public  high  schools,  and  under  Mayor  Strong's  administra- 
tion the  preliminary  steps  were  taken  by  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation to  satisfy  this  need.  The  new  high  schools  which 
were  finally  secured,  as  an  outcome  of  this  movement,  were 
three  in  number :  the  De  Witt  Clinton  School,  for  boys  ;  the 
Wadleigh  School,  for  girls ;  and  the  Peter  Cooper  School,  now 
called  the  Morris  School,  for  both  girls  and  boys.  They  were 
opened  in  the  fall  of  1897.  Dr.  John  T.  Buchanan  was 
called  from  the  Kansas  City  High  School  to  become  prin- 
cipal of  the  school  for  boys;  Dr.  John  G.  Wight,  from 
the  Girls'  High  School  of  Philadelphia,  to  become  principal 
of  the  school  for  girls ;  while  the  mixed  school  was  put  in 
charge  of  Dr.  Edward  J.  Goodwin,  who  was  called  from  the 
principalship  of  the  high  school  at  Newton,  Massachusetts. 
Dr.  Buchanan,  beginning  with  about  five  hundred  boys,  in 


408          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

a  condemned  and  disused  grammar  school  building,  saw  his 
school  grow  to  twelve  hundred  in  a  single  year,  and  to 
twenty-four  hundred  in  two  years.  Each  year  the  enor- 
mous growth  called  for  the  opening  of  an  "  annex "  to  the 
school  in  another  part  of  the  city,  till  now  the  De  Witt 
Clinton  School  is  in  reality  a  system  of  four  schools,  all 
remote  from  one  another,  with  a  teaching  force  of  nearly 
one  hundred  instructors.  Each  annex  is  in  charge  of  a 
"first  assistant,"  while  Dr.  Buchanan  continues  to  be  prin- 
cipal over  the  whole,  four-parted  institution. 

The  Wadleigh  School  has  gone  through  a  similar  and  nearly 
parallel  development,  the  number  of  teachers  having  grown 
to  a  little  over  one  hundred.  Provision  has  been  made  for 
four  annexes,  in  widely  separated  sections  of  the  city.  The 
Morris  School  has  been  extended  to  two  annexes  and  has  a 
force  of  seventy  teachers. 

The  regular  high  school  enrolment  of  this  chief  borough 
of  New  York  City  has  grown,  then,  in  five  years  from  noth- 
ing to  not  far  from  ten  thousand;  and  there  is  no  sign  as 
yet  that  the  annual  increase  has  reached  its  term.  An  at- 
tendance of  several  hundred  is  expected  at  the  new  High 
School  of  Commerce,  when  it  shall  open  in  the  fall  of  1902. 
A  manual  training  high  school  is  expected  to  appear,  although 
the  steps  toward  its  establishment  have  halted  for  a  time. 
And  the  stronger  private  schools  of  the  city  are  prosperous 
as  ever,  and  go  on  their  way  undisturbed  by  this  great  ex- 
pansion in  the  public  schools.1 

The  third  group  of  recent  tendencies  to  be  discussed  in 
these  chapters  is  that  looking  toward  a  better  adjustment 
of  our  secondary  education  to  the  needs  of  individual  stu- 
dents. In  this  we  find  ourselves  dealing  not  only  with 

1  In  the  preparation  of  this  sketch  of  the  recent  high  school  movement  in 
New  York,  I  have  had  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Harry  Hopkins  Hubbell,  a  grad- 
uate student  in  the  Teachers  College  of  Columbia  University.  The  Journal 
of  the  Board  of  Education  for  1896-97,  and  the  annual  reports  of  the  City 
Superintendent  of  Schools  are  the  chief  sources  of  information. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  409 

changes  in  the  organization  of  schools,  but  still  more  with 
a  tendency  affecting  the  underlying  theory  of  education. 

For  several  generations  our  secondary  education  worked 
on  as  best  it  might,  feeling  its  way  among  the  influences 
of  tradition,  of  social  unrest,  of  political  and  religious  revo- 
lution, with  very  little  attempt  at  the  interpretation  of  those 
influences  under  the  guidance  of  any  comprehensive  theory. 
This  was  especially  true  of  that  dominant  side  of  secondary 
education  which  was  chiefly  concerned  with  preparing  stu- 
dents for  college  matriculation.  So  far  as  the  cultivation  of 
educational  doctrine  with  reference  to  education  in  "  fitting- 
schools"  is  concerned,  the  greater  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  was  a  barren  and  desolate  period  indeed. 

In  the  meantime  a  deep  interest  had  been  aroused  in  the 
theory  of  elementary  education.  Under  the  influence  of  the 
better  normal  schools,  this  interest  was  widely  propagated 
and  was  made  to  awaken  some  real  professional  spirit  among 
the  teachers  and  supervisors  of  elementary  schools.  Much 
of  the  educational  theory  so  spread  abroad  was  superficial ; 
and  much  that  had  been  far  from  superficial  in  its  original 
setting-forth  was  misunderstood  and  misapplied  by  its  ex- 
pounders and  adherents.  But  a  sincere  effort  was  making 
toward  rationalized  processes  and  rational  criticism,  and  that 
is  a  thing  of  great  price.  From  another  point  of  view  and 
in  a  very  different  way,  the  theory  of  education  was  studied 
profoundly  and  set  forth  in  luminous  addresses  and  reports 
by  a  notable  line  of  college  presidents.  But  in  college  f  acul-  < 
ties  and  in  the  teaching  force  of  a  large  part  of  our  second- 
ary schools  there  reigned  a  settled  indifference  if  not  a  positive 
opposition  to  the  study  of  educational  questions  with  refer- 
ence to  their  bearing  upon  education.  If  this  condition  of 
things  is  now  passing,  the  change  is  mainly  due  on  the  one 
hand  to  the  educational  spirit  and  influence  of  a  few  great 
college  and  university  presidents,  and  on  the  other  hand  to 
the  spirit  and  influence  of  the  normal  schools.1 

1  With  few  exceptions,  the  normal  schools  have  not  concerned  themselves 
to  any  great  extent  with  the  problems  of  secondary  education,  being  necessarily 


410          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Even  now  one  would  hardly  venture  to  say  that  we  have 
any  full-rounded  theory  of  secondary  education.  But  we 
have  a  new  and  better  professional  attitude.  School  men 
are  more  disposed  to  take  account  of  theoretical  considera- 
tions in  the  attempt  to  solve  school  problems. 

Such  theoretical  considerations  as  have  been  brought  into 
prominence  have  been  drawn  from  various  quarters.  We 
shall  take  note  here  of  only  one  group  —  that  which  has 
been  drawn  from  the  study  of  adolescence  as  a  stage  of  indi- 
vidual development.  The  modern  movement  of  general  edu- 
cational theory  was,  in  its  earlier  stages,  predominantly 
psychological,  with  a  strong  tendency  toward  a.  rather 
abstract  individualism.  This  new  movement  affecting  the 
special  theory  of  secondary  education  has  been  taking  a 
similar  course,  with  this  important  difference  that  it  draws 
upon  the  later  and  not  the  earlier  psychology.  Adolescence 
has  become  a  fad- word  in  some  quarters ;  but  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  one  of  the  main  aspects  of  any  comprehensive 
doctrine  of  this  stage  of  education  will  always  be  that  which 

preoccupied  with  the  training  of  teachers  for  the  elementary  schools.  But 
the  educational  spirit  which  they  have  fostered  has  been  working  far  beyond 
the  sphere  of  their  direct  influence. 

Many  of  the  normal  schools  have  had  to  do  with  secondary  education  in 
other  ways  which  might  prope.rly  have  received  notice  in  such  a  work  as  this. 
Their  own  courses  of  instruction  have  sometimes  offered  the  best  training  of 
secondary  grade  accessible  in  large  sections  of  our  land,  and  they  have  been 
resorted  to  accordingly  by  students  who  had  no  intention  of  teaching  for  a 
longer  period  than  might  be  required  of  normal  school  graduates  by  law  or  by 
rule  of  the  several  boards  of  management.  In  some  cases,  too,  the  normal 
schools  have  maintained  high  school  departments,  or  offered  parallel  courses 
of  instruction  in  the  classics  and  other  studies  not  found  in  the  usual  normal 
school  curriculum. 

When  the  name  "  normal  school "  was  at  the  height  of  its  popularity,  there 
appeared  many  private  schools,  especially  in  the  southern  and  middle  western 
states,  which  bore  this  designation  and  offered  instruction  in  a  great  variety  of 
subjects,  some  pedagogical,  others  such  as  are  commonly  found  in  the  program 
of  secondary  schools.  These  institutions,  some  of  them  cheap  and  poor  and  some 
of  more  respectable  standing,  have  been  the  main  dependence,  for  secondary 
education,  of  a  considerable  clientage. 

Gf.  NEWELL,  M.  A.,  Contributions  to  the  history  of  normal  schools  in  the 
United  States,  in  Rept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1898-99,  II.,  pp.  2263-2470. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  411 

depends  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  normal  stages  and  processes 
by  which  children  pass,  through  youth,  up  into  mature  man- 
hood and  womanhood. 

The  trend  of  these  studies  in  their  bearing  upon  educa- 
tional problems  was  discussed  four  years  ago  by  Dr.  William 
H.  Burnham  in  an  address  before  the  New  England  Associa- 
tion of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools.1  Dr.  Burnham 
held  that  the  current  dissatisfaction  with  the  results  of  our 
secondary  school  training  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the  fact 
that  "we  have  devoted  attention  to  the  content  of  culture 
and  to  the  scholastic  product  to  the  neglect  of  the  object 
of  culture  —  the  growing  youth."  From  the  standpoint  of 
psychology  and  anthropology,  the  youth  of  high  school  age 
presents  certain  developmental  characteristics  which  are  of 
great  importance.  About  this  time  comes  a  period  of  accel- 
erated growth,  with  attendant  increase  of  vitality.  There 
appears  a  liability  to  certain  nervous  diseases,  which  may, 
however,  be  outgrown.  Great  differences  are  found  to  exist 
among  children  of  this  age  as  to  their  liability  to  fatigue. 
These  differences  may  be  measured  through  outward  manifes- 
tations. It  has  been  proposed  that  students  be  graded  accord- 
ing to  their  ability  to  do  mental  work  without  fatigue. 

This  is  a  period  of  functional  acquisition  and  readjustment. 
Mental  change  and  psychical  activity  appear  in  "  intellectual 
awakening,  the  storm  and  stress  of  doubt,  the  conversions, 
the  intense  emotional  life,  the  fluctuating  interests  and  en- 
thusiasms, the  general  instability,  and  not  infrequently  the 
moral  aberrations  and  perversities."  How  far  the  period  of 
accelerated  growth  coincides  with  or  differs  from  that  of 
increased  intellectual  activity  is  an  open  question. 

Secondary  education,  according  to  Dr.  Burnham,  may  be 

1  See  School  Review,  V.,  pp.  652-665.  The  paper  was  entitled  Sugges- 
tions from  the  psychology  of  adolescence.  The  discussion  of  the  paper  by 
the  Association  is  reported,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  666-683.  Dr.  Burnham  did  not 
undertake  to  give  any  complete  pedagogical  evaluation  of  the  results  of 
studies  in  this  field;  but  I  have  not  seen  any  later  presentation  which  does  so 
much  in  this  direction  as  the  paper  referred  to,  and  have  accordingly  gone  back 
to  it  for  this  summary. 


412          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

adapted  to  the  needs  of  developing  youth  in  some  such  ways 
as  these : 

1.  By  understanding  the  greatness   of  the  opportunity. 
"  The  teachers  in  the  higher  schools  have  their  pupils  at  this 
period   of   functional  acquisition  and   readjustment,  when 
they  are  open  to  new  impressions  with   almost   hypnotic 
susceptibility." 

2.  It  is  a  time  for  many-sided  interest  and  self -revelation ; 
for  self-assertion  ;  for  increasing  self-direction. 

3.  It  is  a  time  for  much  activity,  bodily  and  mental, 
which  the  school  should  turn  into  legitimate  channels. 

4.  There  are  great  individual  variations  at  this  stage  of 
development:  hence  the  schools  should  "demand  an  edu- 
cated teacher  and  give  him  freedom." 

5.  "The  opinion  is  still  prevalent  that  the   elementary 
teacher  needs  special  training,  but  that  the  secondary  teacher 
is  such  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  authority  of  one's  alma 
mater."  Over  against  this  view  should  be  set  the  demand  that 
the  secondary  school  teacher  shall  have  professional  training, 
which  shall  include  a  study  of  the  psychology  of  adolescence. 

6.  The  ordinary  college  entrance  examination  is  too  nar- 
row a  test  of  "  the  manif oldness  of  adolescent  character."    It 
should  be  supplemented  by  a  report  from  the  candidate's 
teacher  in  the  secondary  school,  covering  those  qualities  — 
physical  and  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  —  which  must  be 
known  before  the  candidate's  fitness  to  undertake  the  higher 
studies  can  fairly  be  determined. 

The  suggestion  was  repeated  that  the  evils  affecting  our 
secondary  and  collegiate  education  are  due  to  the  lack  of  an 
understanding  of  adolescence  rather  than  to  faults  of  the 
curriculum.  The  demand  that  a  psychological  rather  than 
a  purely  logical  arrangement  of  studies  should  be  followed, 
was  illustrated  by  reference  to  the  Frankfort  plan,  which 
the  speaker  warmly  approved. 

At  the  same  session  of  the  New  England  Association,  Dr. 
Fred  W.  Atkinson,  then  principal  of  the  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, high  school,  presented  a  paper  on  The  capacities  of 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  413 

secondary  school  students,  the  general  trend  of  which  was  in 
harmony  with  that  presented  by  Dr.  Burnham.  An  ex- 
tended discussion  followed  the  reading  of  these  papers,  which 
showed  that  a  new  direction  had  been  given  by  them  to  the 
thought  of  the  Association,  and  that  the  suggestions  which 
they  offered  were  cordially  welcomed. 

The  new  emphasis  upon  the  study  of  adolescence  has  pro- 
foundly influenced  the  spirit  of  our  secondary  education, 
and  such  change  as  it  has  produced  has  generally  been  a 
change  for  the  better.  Its  chief  significance  thus  far  lies  in 
this  general  and  pervasive  influence,  rather  than  in  any 
specific  reform  or  constructive  undertaking  to  which  it  has 
given  definite  direction.  Strong  protests  have  been  uttered 
against  the  excessive  individualism  which  it  is  supposed  to 
foster,  and  more  fundamental  objection  has  appeared  against 
any  attempt  to  base  a  theory  of  education  upon  psychology 
alone.  But  the  working  out  of  any  comprehensive  theory  in 
this  field  is  largely  a  task  for  the  future. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES 

The  following  references  are  selected  from  the  rather  voluminous  litera- 
ture of  the  accrediting  system  : 

The  report  of  a  notable  debate  on  this  subject  in  the  New  England  Asso- 
ciation  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  may  be  found  in  the  Official 
Report  of  the  annual  meeting  of  that  society  for  1892  ;  and  in  School  and 
College,  I.,  pp.  519-534  (opening  address  by  Mr.  FRANCIS  A.  WATER- 
HOUSE),  and  pp.  556-564  (discussion).  A  series  of  papers  on  the  same 
subject  runs  through  volumes  V.  and  VI.  of  the  Educational  Review 
(1893).  The  contributors  are  CYRUS  NORTHRUP,  V.,  pp.  187-188  ;  MER- 
RILL E.  GATES,  pp.  189-191 ;  JAMES  H.  CANFIELD,  pp.  291-292 ;  O.  M. 
FERNALD,  pp.  292-295  ;  MARTIN  KELLOGG,  pp.  384-388  ;  JOHN  TETLOW, 
pp.  388-391 ;  CHARLES  K.  ADAMS,  VI.,  pp.  69-70 ;  E.  W.  COY,  pp.  70- 
73  ;  LUCY  M.  SALMON,  pp.  223-241.  Information  concerning  the  institu- 
tions in  which  the  system  has  been  adopted  is  presented  in  the  Rept. 
Comr.  Ed.,  1894-95,  v.  II.,  eh.  XXV.,  Admission  to  college  by  certificate 
(pp.  1171-1188).  See  also  the  paper  by  President  JAMES  B.  ANGELL, 
Relations  of  the  university  to  public  education,  in  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1887, 
pp.  146-151;  that  by  Professor  FREDERICK  SLATE,  The  relation  of  the 
university  to  secondary  schools,  ia  The  University  [of  California]  Chronicle, 


414          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

L,  pp.  498-514  (December,  1898)  ;  and  in  volume  II.  of  the  same  period- 
ical, an  article,  Accrediting  of  secondary  schools,  pp.  54-64  (February, 
1899). 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  was  first  issued  by  the  Bureau  of 
Education  at  Washington.  When  the  original  edition  was  exhausted,  it 
was  reprinted  by  the  American  Book  Company.  It  was  reprinted,  also, 
with  the  omission  of  the  valuable  reports  of  the  sub-committees,  in  the  Rept. 
Comr.  Ed.  for  1892-93,  II.,  pp.  1415-1448.  Several  of  the  more  impor- 
tant articles  which  it  called  out  are  reprinted  in  the  same  volume  of  the 
Rept.  Comr.  Ed.,  pp.  1448-1491 ;  and  there  follows  a  bibliography  of  the 
discussion,  pp.  1491-1494.  The  discussion  of  the  Report  in  the  National 
Council  of  Education  is  reproduced  in  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1894,  pp.  645-669. 

The  Report  of  the  Committee  on  College-Entrance  Requirements  was 
printed  by  the  National  Association  m  pamphlet  form.  It  appears  also  in 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1899,  pp.  632-817- 

For  the  College  Entrance  Examination  Board,  see  the  Proceedings  of  the 
13M,  14M,  and  15M  annual  conventions  of  the  Association  of  Colleges  and 
Preparatory  Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and  Maryland  ;  the  First  annual 
report  of  the  secretary,  in  the  Ed.  Rev.,  XXII.,  pp.  264-296,  October,  1901 ; 
and  Documents,  nos.  1  to  6,  issued  by  the  Board. 

The  following  articles  are  of  value  in  their  bearing  upon  the  recent 
Catholic  school  movement : 

BRANN,  REV.  H.  A.,  D.D.  The  improvement  of  parochial  schools.  The 
American  Catholic  quarterly  Review,  IX.,  pp.  238-253,  April,  1884. 

SHEA,  JOHN  GILMARY,  LL.D.  Catholic  free  schools  iiithe  United  States  : 
Their  necessity,  condition,  and  future.  Loc.  cit.,  pp.  713-725,  October, 
1884. 

MURPHY,  REV.  JOHN  T.  Catholic  secondary  education  in  the  Uuifed 
States.  Loc.  cit.,  XXII.,  pp.  449-464,  July,  1897. 

BURNS,  REV.  J.  A.,  C.S.C.  Catholic  secondary  schools.  Loc.  cit.,  July, 
1901.  (Reprint,  14  pp.)  Also  in  Report  of  the  third  annual  conference 
of  the  Association  of  Catholic  Colleges  of  the  United  States,  pp.  25-38. 

JENKINS,  REV.  THOS.  JEFFERSON.  The  amenities  of  the  school  adjust- 
ment. The  Catholic  World,  LIV.,  pp.  582-589,  January,  1892. 

O'MALLEY,  AUSTIN,  M.D.,  LL.D.  Catholic  collegiate  education  in  the 
United  States.  Loc.  cit.,  LXVIL,  pp.  289-304,  June,  1898. 

CLARKE,  RICHARD  H.,  LL.D.  What  Catholics  have  done  in  the  last 
hundred  years.  In  official  report  of  the  Catholic  Congress  at  Balti- 
more, 1889,  pp.  164-177. 

CONATY,  RT.  REV.  MGR.  THOMAS  J.  The  Catholic  college  of  the  twen- 
tieth century.  In  Report  of  the  third  annual  conference  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Catholic  Colleges  of  the  United  States,  April  10,  11,  and  12, 
1901,  pp.  5-22. 


RECENT  TENDENCIES  415 

Other  interesting  papers  appear  in  the  Reports  of  the  first  and  second 
of  these  conferences. 

An  interesting  discussion  of  the  merits  and  dements  of  private  school 
education  appears  in  the  Educational  Review  for  March  and  May,  1902.  The 
writers  are  MESSRS.  GEORGE  C.  EDWARDS,  A.  FRANKLIN  Ross,  and  FREDER- 
ICK WHITTON.  Compare  SAUNDERS,  LOUISE  SHEFFIELD  BROWNELL,  Private 
secondary  schools  for  girls,  in  Ed.  Rev.,  XX.,  pp.  357-364,  November,  1900, 
and  HULL,  LAWRENCE  CAMERON,  Private  schools  for  boys.  Loc.  cit.,  pp. 
365-376. 

The  annals  of  the  manual  training  movement  are  presented  in  a  very 
interesting  article  by  DIRECTOR  C.  M.  WOODWARD,  entitled  The  rise  and 
progress  of  manual  training,  in  the  Rept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1893-94,  I.,  pp. 
877-949.  There  is  a  valuable  mass  of  undigested  material  relating  to  this 
movement  in  the  four  volumes  entitled  Art  and  industry,  edited  by  MR. 
ISAAC  EDWARDS  CLARK,  and  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Education.  (Part  1, 
pp.  259  +  842,  published  1885  ;  part  2,  pp.  148  +  1338,  published  1892  ; 
part  3,  pp.  53  +  1145,  published  1897;  part  4,  pp.  56  +  1020,  published 
1898).  Two  more  volumes  in  this  series  are  in  course  of  preparation.  See 
also  the  monograph  on  Art  and  industrial  education,  by  MR.  CLARK  in 
Education  in  the  United  States,  II.,  pp.  707-767 ;  and  the  two  following 
articles  : 

PRITCHETT,  HENRY  S.     Industrial  and  technical  training  in  popular  edu- 
cation.   Ed.  Rev.,  XXIII.,  pp.  281-303,  March.  1902 ;  and 

ROGERS,  HOWARD  J.     The  relation  of  education  to  industrial  and  commer- 
cial development.     Ed.  Rev.,  XXIII.,  pp.  490-502,  May,  1902. 

For  the  bibliography  of  the  study  of  adolescence,  reference  should  be  had 
to  the  several  volumes  of  the  Pedagogical  Seminary.  Attention  should  be 
called  especially  to  the  article  by  WM.  H.  BURNHAM,  The  study  of  adoles- 
cence (I.,  pp.  174-195)  ;  that  by  G.  STANLEY  HALL,  The  moral  and  religious 
training  of  children  and  adolescents  (I.,  pp.  196-210)  ;  that  by  E.  G.  LAN- 
CASTER, The  psychology  and  pedagogy  of  adolescence  (V.,  pp.  61-128)  ; 
that  by  G.  STANLEY  HALL,  The  high  school  as  the  people's  college  versus 
the  fitting  school  (IX.,  pp.  63-73),  and  by  the  same  author,  Adolescents 
and  high  school  English,  Latin,  and  algebra  (IX.,  pp.  92-105)  ;  and  to  the 
titles  relating  to  adolescence  which  appear  in  the  annual  Bibliography  of  child 
study,  prepared  by  MR.  Louis  N.  WILSON  (volume  V.  and  each  succeeding 
volume).  See  also  the  bibliography  of  The  psychology  of  adolescence  by 
WILL  S.  MONROE,  in  the  New  York  Teachers'  Magazine,  V.,  pp.  280-282, 
October,  1899  ;  and  CHARLES  C.  VAN  LIEW,  The  curriculum  of  secondary 
education  in  the  light  of  fundamental  traits  of  adolescence.  San  Francisco, 
1901,  pp.  15. 


CHAPTEE   XIX 
NOTES   ON  SCHOOL   LIFE   AND   STUDIES 

THE  crowding  of  the  curriculum  with  a  multiplicity  of  sub- 
jects had  already  begun  away  back  in  the  old  academy  days. 
Even  then  the  studies  which  had  to  do  with  useful  informa- 
tion were  much  in  demand,  and  it  was  with  them  that  the 
crowding  took  place.  After  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  demand  for  subjects  of  this  sort  on  account  of 
their  usefulness  was  mightily  reinforced  by  a  demand  for 
the  same  subjects  on  account  of  their  scientific  value. 

The  physical  sciences  were  becoming  more  scientific 
through  application  of  the  principle  of  the  conservation  of 
energy  and  its  several  corollaries.  The  biological  sciences 
were  just  escaping  from  the  stage  of  classification  and 
becoming  for  the  first  time  scientific  through  the  doctrine  of 
organic  evolution.  The  word  science  was  taking  on  new  sig- 
nificance. With  the  progress  of  scientific  discovery,  new 
vistas  were  opening  up  in  every  direction.  Men  came  to 
expect  every  conceivable  good  at  the  hand  of  this  new 
scientific  thought,  and  for  themselves  and  for  others  they 
desired  encyclopedic  knowledge. 

Schools  of  every  grade  were  profoundly  disturbed  by  the 
rapid  changes  going  on  in  the  larger  world  of  ideas.  In  the 
seventies  or  thereabouts,  the  tendency  to  overload  the  curric- 
ulum with  scientific  studies  was  accelerated  by  the  action  of 
some  state  legislatures,  requiring  candidates  for  the  teacher's 
certificate  to  pass  an  examination  in  several  of  the  sciences. 
In  some  portions  of  the  country  it  was  regarded  as  no  small 
part  of  the  service  of  the  public  high  schools  that  they 
prepared  their  students  to  pass  the  teachers'  examination. 


NOTES   ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          417 

Statutory  provisions  relating  to  this  examination  had  accord- 
ingly an  indirect,  but  prompt  and  powerful,  influence  upon 
high  school  courses  of  study. 

How  many  other  influences  were  working  in  the  same 
direction,  it  would  be  hard  to  say.  But  the  result  was  that 
"  multiplicity  of  short  information  courses,"  particularly  in 
the  natural  sciences,  against  which  the  Committee  of  Ten  pro- 
tested. A  group  of  text-books  bearing  the  titles  Fourteen 
weeks  in  chemistry,  and  Fourteen  weeks  in  each  of  several 
other  subjects,  attained  a  wide  popularity  at  this  time,  and 
was  highly  characteristic  of  the  tendency  referred  to.1 

The  more  recent  history  of  studies  can  be  traced  in  a 
series  of  carefully  prepared  statistical  tables.  It  appears 
from  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  that 
between  the  years  1894  and  1900  the  percentage  of  pupils 
in  our  secondary  schools  studying  Latin,  French,  German, 
algebra,  geometry,  physical  geography,  physiology,  rhetoric, 
and  general  history,  was  on  the  increase,  the  advance  being 
especially  marked  in  the  case  of  Latin,  algebra,  geometry, 
rhetoric,  and  history.  In  the  same  period  the  percentage  of 
those  studying  Greek,  trigonometry,  astronomy,  physics, 
geology,  and  psychology  declined.  For  a  portion  of  the 
studies  a  report  is  presented  covering  ten  years,  from  1889 
to  1899.  In  that  time  the  percentage  studying  Latin  had 
advanced  from  33.62  to  50.29,  and  the  advance  in  algebra, 
geometry,  and  general  history,  though  less  marked,  was  very 
noteworthy.  In  these  years  the  actual  number  of  students 
attending  our  secondary  schools  had  increased  from  367,003 
to  655,227. 


1  It  was  my  fortune  to  teach  for  a  single  winter  in  the  high  school  of  a 
small  town  in  central  Illinois.  The  course  of  study  was  three  years  in  length 
and  included  twenty-four  subjects,  all  required.  In  his  senior  year,  the 
student  in  this  school  studied  natural  philosophy,  zoology,  civil  government, 
essays,  astronomy,  physiology,  universal  history,  mental  philosophy,  and 
chemistry,  the  most  of  them  for  one-third  of  the  year  each.  I  do  not  think 
this  instance  was  at  all  exceptional.  The  school  had  then  no  laboratory  and 
but  little  apparatus,  and  only  two  teachers  were  employed  in  the  high  school 
department. 

27 


418          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

It  would  seem  that  in  spite  of  this  enormous  increase  in 
attendance,  the  schools  had  been  gravitating  back  toward 
concentration  on  a  smaller  number  of  studies,  and  those 
chiefly  the  central  studies  of  the  old  humanistic  curriculum 
with  the  omission  of  Greek.  While  Greek  seems  to  have 
declined  proportionately,  the  falling  off  was  very  slight,  and 
the  actual  increase  in  the  number  of  students  studying  that 
language  was  not  far  from  twelve  thousand.  It  is  likely 
that  physics,  which  shows  the  greatest  retrogression  in  the 
ten-year  period,  had  made  greater  advance  than  the  most  of 
the  other  subjects  in  methods  of  presentation.  The  percent- 
age of  students  studying  physics  by  laboratory  methods,  if 
it  could  be  determined,  would  probably  show  a  substantial 
increase. 

On  the  whole,  then,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  in  their 
actual  working  our  secondary  schools,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  are  increasing  enormously  in  attendance,  are  becoming 
more  conservative  in  their  schemes  of  instruction,  are  less 
given  to  "  short  information  courses,"  are  more  humanistic, 
and  on  the  scientific  side  are  doing  more  in  the  direction 
of  an  improvement  of  instruction  than  in  that  of  the  exten- 
sion of  studies. 

We  may  note  in  passing  that  in  the  same  period,  despite 
the  tremendous  increase  in  attendance  at  higher  institutions, 
the  number  of  students  in  our  secondary  schools  who  were 
not  preparing  for  college  increased  more  rapidly  than  those 
who  were;  18.66  per  cent  were  preparing  for  college  in 
1889-90  and  14.05  per  cent  in  1898-99. 

The  report  for  the  year  1899-1900  shows  a  reversal  at 
several  points  of  the  tendency  indicated  in  the  preceding 
paragraphs.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  whether  the  change 
marks  a  new  and  opposite  tendency  or  merely  a  temporary 
retrogression.  The  total  number  of  secondary  students  ad- 
vanced in  the  single  year  from  655,227  to  719,241 ;  yet  the 
percentage  of  these  who  were  preparing  for  college  rose  at 
the  same  time  from  14.05  to  14.53.  The  percentage  of  those 
studying  German,  rhetoric,  English  literature,  and  civics  in- 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          419 

creased ;  while  a  diminished  percentage  is  recorded  against 
all  of  the  other  subjects  reported,  namely,  Latin,  Greek, 
French,  algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry,  astronomy,  physics, 
chemistry,  physical  geography,  geology,  physiology,  psychol- 
ogy, and  general  history.1 

The  actual  courses  of  study  in  our  secondary  schools  show 
considerable  diversity.  The  determination  of  the  curriculum 
is  generally  left,  in  our  school  laws,  to  the  discretion  of 
municipal  or  district  boards  of  education,  and  private  schools 
are  limited  only  by  the  ends  which  they  choose  to  serve. 
Yet  the  differences  between  neighboring  schools  or  between 
the  schools  of  different  sections  of  the  country  are  not  so 
wide  as  one  might  expect.  Owing  to  the  extensive  circula- 
tion of  all  sorts  of  educational  literature,  and  the  frequent 
meeting  of  teachers  one  with  another  in  educational  con- 
ventions, there  is  a  surprising  approach  toward  uniformity 
in  the  educational  provisions  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  Even  the  poorer  and  more  backward  sections  are 
often  seen  striving  consciously  and  earnestly  after  the  ideals 
proposed  in  more  favored  districts.  High  schools  may  be 
found  having  courses  ranging  all  the  way  from  one  to  six 
years  in  length  ;  but  the  four-year  course  is  still  the  gener- 
ally recognized  standard.  Private  schools  have  commonly 
a  four-year  course,  though  six-year  courses  are  now  found  in 
some  of  the  great  boarding  schools  for  boys.  A  few  recent 
courses  are  presented,  by  way  of  example,  in  the  Appendix.2 

Within  the  past  half -century,  methods  of  instruction,  and 
to  a  less  degree  the  choice  of  topics,  in  secondary  school 
subjects  generally,  have  been  profoundly  influenced  by  the 
changes  which  have  appeared  in  the  study  of  the  natural 
sciences.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  in  founding  the  first 
polytechnic  school  in  the  United  States  (in  1824),  gave  di- 
rections that  chemistry  and  experimental  philosophy  should 
not  be  taught  in  that  institution  ''by  seeing  experiments 
and  hearing  lectures,  according  to  the  usual  method."  In- 
stead, the  students  should  be  required  "to  lecture  and 
1  See  Appendix  A.  2  See  Appendix  B. 


420          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

experiment  by  turn,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  a  pro- 
fessor or  competent  assistant.  Thus  by  a  term  of  labor, 
like  apprentices  to  a  trade,  they  are  to  become  operative 
chemists." 1 

James  C.  Booth,  an  early  student  in  the  Eensselaer  Insti- 
tute, became  professor  of  chemistry  in  the  Franklin  Institute 
at  Philadelphia,  in  1836,  and  opened  a  laboratory  which  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  in  the  United  States  for  instruc- 
tion in  chemical  analysis  and  in  the  application  of  chemistry 
to  the  arts.  Six  years  later  he  became  an  instructor  in  the 
Central  High  School  of  Philadelphia  ;  but  the  laboratory  fa- 
cilities of  that  school  at  the  time,  and  for  many  years  there- 
after, seem  to  have  been  insignificant.  In  1862,  however,  a 
visitor  to  the  school  reported  that  the  laboratory,  such  as  it 
was,  was  of  great  use,  the  students  being  taught  to  perform 
the  experiments  in  chemistry  for  themselves.  In  1868  more 
complete  provision  was  made  for  such  laboratory  work,  and 
an  assistant  was  regularly  employed  for  this  purpose.2 

In  the  seventies  and  early  eighties  the  establishment  of 
laboratories  in  which  experiments  and  observations  should 
be  made  by  the  pupils  themselves  became  much  more  com- 
mon. Within  the  past  ten  or  fifteen  years  the  requirement 
by  some  of  our  foremost  colleges  of  laboratory  work  on  the 
part  of  those  who  would  offer  one  of  the  natural  sciences  as 
a  part  of  their  preparation  for  college  matriculation,  has 
given  a  great  impetus  to  this  movement.  In  1897  it  was 
reported  that  in  Massachusetts  66  high  schools  were  pro- 
vided with  good  laboratory  facilities,  80  had  fair  or  limited 
facilities,  and  98  had  poor  facilities  or  none.  We  have  seen 
that  in  the  state  systems  of  New  York  and  Minnesota  partic- 
ular attention  is  paid  to  the  laboratory  equipment  of  the 

1  Quoted  by  T.  C.  MENDENHALL  in  BUTLER,  Education  in  the  United 
States,  II.,  pp.  557-558. 

2  EDMONDS,  History  of  the  Central  High  School,  pp.   57,  179,  200-201, 
211-213.     See  also  Mr.  Edmonds'  account  of  the  establishment  of  the  high 
school  observatory,   in  1840,   op.  cit.,  ch.   5.     This  is  said  to  be  the  fourth 
observatory  in  this  country  in  the  order  of  their  establishment,  the  first  being 
that  of  Yale  College,  erected  in  1830. 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES  421 

schools.  And  the  noble  and  extensive  buildings  which  have 
been  erected  in  recent  years  for  the  high  schools  of  many  of 
our  great  cities,  have  provided  laboratories  such  as  could 
hardly  have  been  found  in  our  best  colleges  a  generation 
ago. 

In  these  laboratories  students  perform  representative  ex- 
periments in  the  science  they  are  pursuing,  under  the  guid- 
ance and  subject  to  the  criticism  of  the  instructor.  These 
experiments  are  commonly  regarded  as  illustrative  of  or 
preparatory  to  the  statement  of  principles  in  a  text-book, 
though  some  would  go  so  far  as  to  let  the  laboratory  manual 
supersede  the  ordinary  text-book  altogether.  The  "  method 
of  re-discovery  "  has  influenced  the  practice  of  the  schools ; 
yet  there  are  probably  few  school  laboratories  in  which  the 
students  are  expected  to  re-discover  on  their  own  account 
the  laws  of  physics  or  chemistry  or  any  other  of  the  sciences. 
A  fine  blending  of  discovery,  verification,  and  correction, 
seems  to  be  the  ideal  of  our  best  teachers  of  natural  science. 
Much  stress  is  laid  on  the  accurate  recording  of  observations 
and  experiments.  The  students'  note-books  serve  as  one  of 
the  chief  tests  of  the  excellence  of  their  work.  Oral  and 
written  recitations  by  the  students  fill  a  large  place  in  the 
work  of  each  term.  All  this  is  vastly  different  from  the 
prevailing  method  of  a  generation  ago. 

The  lecture  system,  to  be  sure,  has  never  occupied  a  large 
place  in  our  secondary  schools.  Clearness  of  exposition  has 
always  been,  and  will  doubtless  always  be,  an  important  ele- 
ment in  a  teacher's  equipment  for  teaching.  Skilful  in-] 
structors  have  at  all  times  exercised  themselves  to  help  their 
pupils  over  difficulties  in  such  manner  as  would  prepare 
them  to  surmount  future  difficulties  for  themselves.  And 
we  read  of  old-time  masters  who  were  famous  for  their  abil- 
ity to  ask  searching  and  stimulating  questions.  But  set 
lectures  have  never  found  favor  here.  The  text-book  was 
until  recently  the  main  reliance  in  school  instruction,  even 
for  classes  in  the  natural  sciences. 

The  recent  extension  of  laboratory  exercises,  together  with 


422          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

the  proportionate  reduction  of  text-book  study,  represents  a 
fundamental  change  of  view  as  to  the  function  of  instruc- 
tion. We  find  accordingly  that  a  similar  advance  has  been 
made  in  the  treatment  of  other  branches  than  the  natural 
sciences.  The  attempt  is  made  to  put  the  student  in  touch 
with  first-hand  materials  of  knowledge ;  and  to  guide  and 
stimulate  him  to  the  end  of  making  over  these  crude  facts 
into  real  knowledge  for  himself.  This  procedure  seeks  to 
give  full  recognition  to  both  the  ideal  and  the  sensuous 
elements  in  knowledge,  and  it  indicates  some  appreciation 
of  the  fact  that  the  ideal  element  to  be  truly  ideal  must  be 
supplied  by  the  active  agency  of  the  student's  own  thought, 
exercised  upon  the  products  of  his  own  experience. 

In  the  practice  of  the  schools,  we  find  these  principles 
applied,  for  example,  to  the  teaching  of  English.  In  the 
long  endeavor  to  make  English  a  substantial  subject  of  in- 
struction, there  was  an  advance  on  the  grammatical*  and 
rhetorical  teaching  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made.  In  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Dr.  John 
Seely  Hart,  a  Princeton  graduate,  was  setting  an  unusually 
high  standard  in  the  teaching  of  this  subject  at  the  Central 
High  School  of  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Hart  put  into  practical 
operation  a  proposal  which  has  been  made  repeatedly,  both 
before  and  since  his  day :  That  Anglo-Saxon  be  taught  as 
one  of  the  chief  foundation  stones  of  the  English  course.  The 
study,  however,  did  not  meet  with  favor  in  Philadelphia, 
and  was  soon  dropped  from  the  programme  of  the  school.1 
At  the  same  time,  Dr.  Hart  laid  strong  emphasis  upon  a 
study  of  the  history  of  the  English  language  and  literature, 
and  this  subject  soon  came  to  be  the  dominant  branch  of 
instruction  in  English.  Dr.  Hart  prepared  text-books  for 
use  in  this  study,  and  other  works  of  a  similar  sort  appeared 
about  this  time,  and  within  the  years  next  following. 

In  some  of  these  books  selections  from  the  authors  stud- 
ied constituted  the  bulk  of  the  text,  and  the  historical  mat- 
ter was  subsidiary.  But  as  the  historical  portion  attracted 
1  EDMONDS,  op.  cit.,  pp.  131-133. 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          423 

more  interest,  the  selections  became  subsidiary,  or  were 
relegated  to  a  separate  volume,  to  be  referred  to  for  illustra- 
tion of  the  narrative.  Shaw's  Manual,  as  edited  for  use  in 
the  schools,  is  fairly  representative  of  this  stage  of  the 
movement. 

As  early  as  the  seventies,  some  teachers  saw  the  weakness 
of  a  course  of  instruction  in  which  pupils  were  taught  the 
history  of  the  literature  while  the  literature  itself  remained 
unknown.1  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  colleges  began 
to  make  definite  requirements  in  this  field  that  the  literary 
study  of  English  masterpieces  became  at  all  general  in  the 
schools  or  took  on  a  definite  scholastic  character.  In  the 
eighties,  the  entrance  requirements  of  Harvard  College  began 
to  exert  a  large  influence  in  this  direction.  The  New  Eng- 
land Association  and  the  Association  of  the  Middle  States 
and  Maryland  followed  with  their  proposed  improvements. 
And  now  we  find  the  students  in  our  secondary  schools 
getting  some  measure  of  that  immediate  acquaintance  with 
English  literature  which  Daniel  Defoe  and  Benjamin 
Franklin  looked  for  from  afar.  It  may  even  be  questioned 
whether  the  systematic  study  of  rhetoric  and  of  the  history 
of  English  literature  has  not  been  unduly  disregarded  in 
this  striving  after  an  acquaintance  with  the  veritable  master- 
pieces. 

The  same  general  tendency  has  appeared  in  the  teaching 
of  history.  This  subject  has  been,  perhaps,  the  most  sadly 
neglected  of  all  the  main  lines  of  study  in  our  secondary 
schools.  Even  after  Greek  and  Eoman  history  came  to  be 
required  for  admission  to  the  classical  course  in  college,  the 

1  Mr.  J.  B.  McChesney,  for  many  years  principal  of  the  high  school  at 
Oakland,  California,  has  given  me  an  interesting  account  of  his  early  efforts 
to  introduce  a  study  of  English  masterpieces  into  that  school.  The  matter 
was  discussed  with  Edward  Rowland  Sill,  then  a  teacher  in  the  high  school. 
This  was  in  1872.  It  was  agreed  that  the  change  proposed  was  desirable,  but 
books  for  the  use  of  pupils  were  hard  to  get.  Professor  William  Swinton  was 
urged  to  supply  the  deficiency,  but  the  resulting  volume  only  partially  served 
the  purpose.  A  beginning  was  made,  however,  in  the  Oakland  high  school, 
with  such  editions  of  the  desired  works  as  could  be  got.  Within  a  few  years 
thereafter  many  school  editions  of  such  masterpieces  became  available. 


424          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

subject  was  commonly  treated  as  merely  incidental  to  the 
main  lines  of  school  instruction.  The  history  of  the  United 
States  was  still  more  seriously  neglected.  The  high  schools 
too  commonly  expected  the  grammar  schools  to  give  all 
needed  instruction  in  that  subject.  The  colleges  have  not 
given  it  serious  attention  as  a  matriculation  subject  till 
within  the  past  few  years. 

But  this  state  of  things  is  rapidly  changing.  Within  a 
decade  several  serious  works  have  been  put  forth  looking  to 
the  improvement  of  historical  instruction.  The  question  of 
method  most  earnestly  discussed  of  late  among  teachers  of 
history  is  that  relating  to  the  place  and  use  of  the  original 
materials,  "sources,"  of  history.  And  while  opinions  and 
practices  differ  widely,  such  materials  are  much  more  largely 
employed  in  the  schools  than  they  were  in  former  years. 

The  tendencies  of  method  in  other  subjects  show  some 
connection  with  those  in  the  subjects  already  referred 
to.  In  the  study  of  modern  languages,  facility  in  conversa- 
tion is  not  commonly  sought ;  though  there  are  schools  here 
and  there  which  lay  great  stress  upon  this  acquisition.  The 
ability  to  read  the  languages  readily  and  with  understand- 
ing, and  to  enter  into  an  appreciation  of  their  literatures, 
are  the  ends  chiefly  striven  for.  To  these  ends  grammati- 
cal study  is  of  course  necessary.  But  the  grammar  is 
studied,  on  the  whole,  less  abstractly  than  formerly,  and 
more  in  its  actual  embodiment  in  literature. 

Greater  effort  is  made  now  than  a  generation  ago  to  gain 
a  reading  knowledge  of  the  ancient  classics.  More  hope  is 
held  out  to  classes  in  Latin  and  Greek,  that  they  may,  with 
attention,  attain  to  such  mastery.  There  is  much  difference 
of  opinion  among  leading  teachers  as  to  the  proportionate 
attention  to  be  paid  to  "  sight  reading ; "  and  as  to  the  value 
of  the  "  inductive  method  "  in  the  mastery  of  grammatical 
principles :  but  actual  practice  seems  to  be  tending  slowly 
toward  a  middle  course,  which  retains  much  of  the  old-time 
thorough  discipline  in  Latin  and  Greek  grammar,  but  brings 
this  training  into  more  vital  connection  with  the  study  of 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          425 

classic  literature.  The  writing  of  Latin  verse  is  generally 
discarded.  Prose  composition  is  receiving  increased  atten- 
tion, and  is  now  more  imitative  in  its  character  than  formerly, 
being  commonly  based  on  the  Latin  or  Greek  masterpiece 
which  the  class  is  studying  at  the  same  time.  Emphasis, 
possibly  too  great,  is  laid  on  exact  pronunciation  and  expres- 
sive reading.  The  question  of  approaching  Attic  through 
modern  Greek  has  been  warmly  discussed,  but  the  proposed 
change  finds  little  if  any  acceptance  in  actual  practice. 

In  mathematics,  much  stress  is  laid  upon  the  original 
demonstration  of  theorems,  particularly  in  plane  and  solid 
geometry.  It  appears  from  time  to  time  that  instruction  in 
mathematics  is  weakened  by  a  failure  to  insist  upon  the  use  of 
accurate  language  in  demonstrations ;  and  from  time  to  time 
fresh  efforts  are  put  forth  to  strengthen  the  work  on  this 
side.  At  the  present  time  especial  stress  is  laid  in  some 
quarters  upon  the  need  of  more  careful  and  accurate  English 
expression  in  all  school  exercises.  The  attempt  to  teach 
English  expression,  oral  and  written,  simply  through  the 
medium  of  instruction  in  other  branches  does  not  promise 
well ;  but  there  is,  fortunately,  a  growing  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  all  teachers  must  have  at  least  some  share  in  the 
responsibility  for  such  instruction. 

The  improvement  of  method  in  teaching,  and  the  better- 
ment of  secondary  instruction  with  reference  to  the  choice 
and  arrangement  of  materials,  have  been  quickened  by  the 
growth  of  a  literature  of  secondary  education.  Except  for 
school  text-books  we  have  had  nothing  to  correspond  even 
remotely  with  the  Gymnasial-padagogik  of  the  Germans, 
until  a  very  recent  day.  The  annual  reports  of  a  few  asso- 
ciations and  two  or  three  special  periodicals  prepared  the 
way  for  such  a  literature,  but  its  beginning  may  fairly  be 
dated  from  the  publication  of  the  Report  of  the  Committee 
of  Ten,  in  1893.  Other  important  reports  have  followed ;  and 
the  earlier  volumes  of  two  important  series  of  special  hand- 
books,1 give  promise  of  better  things  in  this  pedagogic  field. 

1  The  Teachers  professional  library,  edited  by  President  Nicholas  Murray 
Butler,  and  published  by  the  Maomillan  Company ;  and  the  American  teachers' 


426          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  relation  of  the  public  high  schools  to  instruction  in 
religion  is  suggestive  of  that  great  movement  toward  the 
secularization  of  education  which  has  been  going  on  in  many 
lands.  The  old  academies  had  pretty  generally  taken  their 
stand  on  the  ground  of  non-sectarian  religious  instruction. 
The  earlier  high  schools  occupied  a  similar  position.  But 
the  great  educational  awakening,  with  the  new  development 
of  public  schools  which  it  fostered,  the  rapid  increase  of  our 
Eoman  Catholic  citizenship  with  the  resulting  educational 
controversies,  and  other  influences  arising  from  our  national 
expansion  and  internal  development,  tended  to  drive  the 
schools  from  this  ground  toward  a  more  distinct  religious 
neutrality. 

Back  of  those  influences  which  have  been  enumerated  has 
undoubtedly  been  that  profound  movement  of  modern 
thought  which  is  seen  in  the  shifting  of  emphasis  from  the 
doctrinal  (dogmatic  or  metaphysical)  to  the  ethical  side  of 
our  world-view.  Countless  forces  and  tendencies  have  been 
at  work  bringing  about  this  change.  It  has  affected  theology 
as  well  as  education,  and  is  bound  up  with  many  movements 
in  other  departments  of  human  affairs.1  One  significant  as- 
pect of  the  general  tendency  has  appeared  in  the  formation 
of  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture,  established  by  Dr.  Felix 
Adler  in  our  Centennial  Year,  which  is  both  symptom  and 
contributory  cause  of  the  change  we  are  considering.  And 
apart  from  any  religious  or  other  organized  school  of  thought, 
the  leaven  of  this  manner  of  thinking  has  been  working 
among  our  people. 

series,  edited  by  Dean  James  E.  Russell,  and  published  by  Longmans,  Green, 
&Co. 

1  THOMAS  THACHER  said  in  1807  :  '  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  moral  and 
social  virtue  is  not  more  frequently  inculcated  from  the  pulpit,  and  that  it  is 
so  little  taught  in  our  schools  of  learning.  A  compendium  of  ethics  is  both 
necessary  and  much  wanted."  He  thought  Cicero's  Offices,  supplemented  from 
"the  sublime  morality  of  the  New  Testament,"  might  serve  this  purpose. 
See  A  discourse  delivered  at  Milton,  etc. 

There  is  a  luminous  note  on  the  shifting  of  emphasis  in  Christian  apolo- 
getics, in  Professor  G.  H.  HOWISON'S  The  limits  of  evolution  and  other  essays, 
pp.  264-266. 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          427 

In  different  portions  of  this  wide  land  the  educational 
outcome  of  this  tendency  is  various  in  kind  and  degree. 
There  is  not  uncommonly  found  in  our  public  schools,  both 
elementary  and  higher,  a  prevalent  and  pervasive  religious 
atmosphere,  an  influence  emanating  from  the  personal  char- 
acter of  the  instructors.  In  many  of  these  schools  it  is  still 
customary  to  open  the  daily  session  with  the  reading  of  a 
passage  from  the  Bible  or  the  repetition  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer;  or  with  the  singing  of  a  devotional  or  patriotic 
hymn.  But  whatever  there  may  be  of  religious  tone  and 
spirit  in  these  schools  is  of  a  very  general  and  unobtrusive 
sort,  and  far  removed  from  ecclesiasticism.  Teachers  wholly 
indifferent  to  dogmatic  religion  or  in  known  opposition 
thereto  are  freely  employed  in  the  schools ;  but  would 
probably  be  found  to  constitute  but  a  small  minority  of  the 
teaching  force  of  the  country.  In  some  high  schools  ele- 
mentary ethics  is  taught,  along  with  elementary  psychology, 
or  perhaps  economics.  But  this  is  unusual.  The  moral 
force  of  the  high  school  depends,  then,  mainly  on  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  the  teachers  in  their  instruction  in  the 
ordinary  school  subjects ;  on  the  government  of  the  school ; 
and  on  the  relations  of  the  students  one  with  another. 

Some  subjects  of  instruction  offer  especial  advantages  as 
regards  the  formation  of  hi^h  ideals  of  conduct.  The  teach- 

O  O 

ing  of  literature,  and  particularly  the  literature  of  the 
mother  tongue,  is  found  to  be  of  great  value  in  this  respect 
—  the  more  so,  perhaps,  when  untimely  moralizing  is  dis- 
pensed with,  and  noble  sentiments  are  permitted  to  make 
their  appeal  through  the  charm  of  their  artistic  presenta- 
tion. Choice  works  of  plastic  and  pictorial  art  are  rapidly 
finding  their  way  into  our  schoolrooms.  There  is  hardly 
any  systematic  study  of  aesthetics  in  the  programmes  of 
the  schools.  These  works  are  expected  to  accomplish  their 
mission  by  their  mere  presence,  supplemented  sometimes 
by  an  informal  discussion  of  their  merits ;  or  they  serve  to 
reinforce  the  aesthetic  side  of  instruction  in  literature  and  in 
drawing.  In  some  schools  music  is  steadily  cultivated,  and 


428          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

holds  an  honored  place.     The  study  of  history  at  the  hands , 
of  teachers  who  treat  it  as  a  record  of  real  human  activities 

not  reading  into  it  impossible  moralities  nor  making  it  a 

mere  play  of  physical  forces  nor,  worse  yet,  deadening  it 
down  into  technical  erudition  —  is  full  of  ethical  vitality. 
So  it  has  shown  itself  to  many  students  in  recent  years. 

But  skilful  teachers   make   instruction   in   all   subjects, 
moral  —  by  arousing  a  pure  desire  for  truth,  a   spirit   of 
intellectual  honesty,  a  will  to  work  and  to  overcome  difficul- 
ties, and  a  long  line  of  modest  and  every-day  virtues. 

It  is  a  little  difficult  to  get  any  comprehensive  survey  of 
our  middle  school  teachers.  They  belong  to  a  profession 
that  is  slowly  and  painfully  shaping  itself  into  a  real  profes- 
sion. Even  yet  the  professional  standards  which  obtain  in 
the  teaching  bodies  of  different  states  and  even  of  different 
communities  in  the  same  state  are  various  and  variable. 

A  Massachusetts  report  for  the  year  1897  shows  that  one 
per  cent  of  the  high  school  teachers  then  employed  in  that 
state  were  graduates  of  scientific  schools,  13  per  cent  of  nor- 
mal schools,  66  per  cent  of  colleges,  and  the  remaining  20 
per  cent  unclassified.1 

In  the  state  of  New  York,  in  1898,  32  per  cent  of  the 
teachers  in  secondary  schools  —  not  including  principals  — 
were  college  graduates,  39  per  cent  were  normal  school 
graduates,  19  per  cent  were  high  school  graduates,  and  10 
per  cent  had  had  other  training.  These  figures  include  pri- 
vate academies  as  well  as  public  high  schools.  They  include, 
moreover,  one-year,  two-year,  and  three-year  schools,  as  well 
as  fully  developed  high  schools  and  academies.  At  the  same 
time  and  in  the  same  schools,  of  the  principals,  51  per  cent 
were  college  graduates,  35  per  cent  were  normal  school 
graduates,  8  per  cent  were  high  school  graduates,  and  6  per 
cent  had  had  other  training.2 

An  inquiry  into  the  preparation  of  teachers  in  the  secon- 

1  HILL,  How  far  the  public  high  school  is  a  just  charge,  etc.,  appendix,  p.  1. 

2  University  of  the  State  of  New   York,  High  School  Department,  Sixth 
annual  report,   pp.   336-340.      Interesting    information  with   reference    to 
teachers'  salaries  is  added. 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          429 

dary  schools  of  California,  made  in  the  fall  of  1897,  showed 
that  of  522  teachers  then  employed  in  the  puhlic  high  schools 
of  the  state,  308,  or  59  per  cent,  were  college  graduates.  An 
incomplete  list  prepared  three  years  later  showed,  among 
other  things,  that  over  one  per  cent  of  the  high  school 
teachers  of  the  state  at  that  time  held  the  doctorate  in 
philosophy. 

A  committee  of  the  National  Educational  Association 

known  as  the  "Committee  of  Fifteen "—  reported  in  1895, 
among  other  topics,  on  the  training  of  teachers  for  secondary 
schools.  This  committee  declared  that  "The  degree  of 
scholarship  required  for  secondary  teachers  is  by  common 
consent  fixed  at  a  collegiate  education."  They  proposed  a 
course  of  special  training  for  such  teachers,  consisting  of 
instruction  during  the  senior  year  of  the  college  course  in 
psychology,  methodology,  school  systems,  and  the  history, 
philosophy,  and  art  of  education ;  and  a  graduate  year  of 
practice  in  teaching,  under  close  supervision,  supplemented 
by  advanced  studies  in  educational  theory. 

This  proposal  is  far  in  advance  of  common  practice  or 
requirement.  Very  few  of  the  American  states  make  any 
specific  requirement  for  the  high  school  teacher's  certificate 
beyond  that  for  a  license  to  teach  in  the  elementary  schools.1 
There  are,  on  the  other  hand,  many  secondary  schools  in 
which  teachers  rarely  obtain  employment,  if  at  all,  unless 
they  are  college  graduates;  and  there  are  large  sections  of 
the  country  in  which  common  usage  is  rapidly  tending  in 
this  direction.  In  many  of  our  leading  universities  a 
teacher's  recommendation  or  certificate  is  granted  only  to 
such  graduates  as  have  taken  a  substantial  course  of  studies 
in  the  history,  theory,  and  practice  of  education.  And  the 
Teachers  College  at  Columbia  University  is  setting  a  high 
standard  of  requirements  for  prospective  teachers  in  sec- 
ondary schools.2 

1  One  notable  exception  is  the  state  of  California. 

2  See  the  report  on  The  certification  of  college  and  university  graduates  as 
teachers  of  the  common  schools,  in  the  School  Review  for  June,  1899,  pp.  331-371. 


430          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  gave  us  a  goodly 
number  of  schoolmasters,  in  both  public  and  private  schools 
who  are  worthy  to  rank  with  the  best  in  our  history.  The 
career  of  some  of  those  mentioned  in  the  chapter  on  teachers 
in  the  academies  overlaps  this  period.  Others,  among  the 
best  of  that  half  century,  are  still  among  us,  and  many  oJ 
them  in  the  full  vigor  of  active  life.  It  will  be  a  pleasant 
undertaking  of  some  future  historian  to  tell  of  their  work 
and  influence.  Still  others  have  fallen,  whose  memory  is 
cherished  by  their  pupils  and  fellow  laborers. 

John  S.  Hart,  who  was  principal  of  the  Central  High 
School  of  Philadelphia  during  the  middle  years  of  the  cen- 
tury, is  one  of  the  most  marked  figures  in  our  early  high 
school  history.  Through  hard  struggles,  he  had  gained  a 
college  education.  His  breadth  of  scholastic  training  was 
united  with  a  clear  perception  of  the  needs  of  the  "  common 
people."  He  understood  the  mission  of  his  school,  and  by 
wisely  directed  efforts  he  drew  to  it  the  attention  and  the 
support  of  the  community.  It  was  a  fortunate  thing  for 
that  institution  that  it  had  Alexander  Dallas  Bache  to  clear 
the  ground  and  Principal  Hart  to  lay  the  foundations  "for  its 
great  undertaking. 

Phillips  Brooks  made  Francis  Gardner  his  representative 
schoolmaster  of  the  nineteenth  century.  A  man  in  whom 
radical  and  conservative  elements  were  strangely  mixed,  a 
man  who  suffered  and  who  often  made  those  about  him 
suffer,  his  unsparing  truthfulness  left  a  lasting  impression 
on  the  character  of  the  better-endowed  of  his  students. 
The  established  routine  of  the  school  had  a  strong  hold 
upon  him;  and  when  the  diverse  popular  aspirations  and 
strivings  which  have  been  the  life  of  the  high  school  move- 
ment, jostled  roughly  against  the  Boston  Latin  School  in  the 
early  seventies,  he  was  disturbed  and  distressed,  and  in  all 
likelihood  did  not  fully  comprehend  the  changes  which  were 
taking  place.1 

l  For  Francis  Gardner,  see  JENKS,  Historical  sketch,  pp.  55-58,  where 
diverse  views  are  presented.  The  story  of  the  changes,  attempted  and 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES 

Another  early  high  school  principal,  Cyrus  Knowlton, 
holds  an  honored  place  in  the  history  of  the  Hughes  High 
School  of  Cincinnati.1  Among  the  great  number  of  women 
employed  in  our  public  high  schools  have  been  many  who 
have  taken  a  high  place,  because  of  the  excellence  of  their 
instruction  and  the  ennobling  influence  of  their  personal 
character.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  not  only  in  English 
literature,  in  which  they  are  commonly  supposed  to  do 
their  most  effective  teaching,  but  in  mathematics,  not  a  few 
of  them  have  achieved  a  marked  success ;  and  there  is 
probably  no  department  in  which  some  of  their  number 
have  not  risen  to  a  high  grade  of  excellence.  Among  the 
masters  of  privately  managed  institutions,  a  high  place  must 
be  given  to  Henry  Augustus  Coit,  whose  name  is  closely 
connected  with  the  parental  type  of  boarding-school  man- 
agement. The  prompting  to  individual  experiment  has 
brought  forth  private  schools  even  more  plentifully  within 
the  past  half-century  than  in  the  preceding  period.  The 
moving  to  teach  has  turned  many  men,  and  women  too,  in 
this  direction,  and  worthy  achievements  have  been  wrought 
out  in  such  undertakings,  which  cannot,  however,  receive 
separate  notice  here. 

The  government  of  our  best  secondary  schools,  and  even 
of  many  of  the  smaller  schools,  which  are  comparatively 
unknown,  presents  much  which  may  be  regarded  with 
genuine  satisfaction.  The  relations  of  teachers  and  students 
are  comparatively  informal.  There  is  little  consciousness 
of  official  or  artificial  barriers  between  them.  While  strict 
disciplinary  measures  are  often  found  necessary  and  are 
often  enforced  with  vigor,  the  prevalent  type  of  high  school 
and  academy  government  is  that  which  treats  the  students 
as  if  they  were  already  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  throws 
them  as  far  as  possible  on  their  own  resources.  Some 
interesting  and  successful  experiments  have  been  made  in 

accomplished,  in  the  plan  of  the  Latin  School,  from  1868  to  1878,  is  told  by 
Principal  Merrill,  Id.,  pp.  66-75.     It  is  highly  interesting  and  suggestive. 
1  Annual  oftfie  alumni,  1870. 


432          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

the  organization  of  regular  systems  of  self-government 
among  students.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  only  a 
principal  who  has  the  strength  and  skill  to  govern  well  is 
capable  of  making  a  school  into  a  truly  self-governing 
body. 

Under  any  system  of  government,  the  social  life  of  the 
school  is  the  chief  teacher  of  morals.  The  social  organiza- 
tion of  secondary  school  students  is  for  that  reason,  and  for 
others  as  well,  of  very  great  importance.  Public  high 
schools,  private  schools,  and  academies  are  much  alike  in 
this  respect,  and  distinctively  ecclesiastical  establishments 
are  not  far  different.  The  instinct  of  association  is  strong 
in  our  youth,  and  it  finds  expression  in  all  sorts  of  clubs, 
leagues,  societies,  and  fraternities.  The  example  of  the 
colleges  has  been  influential  in  the  schools  in  this  par- 
ticular. The  several  classes  are  commonly  organized,  with 
class  officers,  and  have  occasional  gatherings  of  a  social 
character.  The  offices  of  the  highest  class  in  school  are 
sought  for  with  keen  competition.  Athletic  associations, 
football  and  baseball  clubs,  and  the  like,  are  usually 
maintained.  Several  schools  are  often  joined  in  an  athletic 
league ;  and  the  annual  field  days  are  great  occasions  in  the 
school  year.  The  athletic  records  and  trophies  of  a  school 
are  very  highly  prized.  Debating  clubs  and  other  literary 
societies  are  maintained  with  much  interest.  Contests  in 
debate  with  neighboring  schools  call  forth  a  spirit  of  emula- 
tion like  that  displayed  in  athletic  struggles.  Musical 
organizations  are  perhaps  less  common,  but  are  among  the 
most  pleasing  of  school  societies.  Annual  publications  by 
successive  classes  present  a  record  of  the  varied  interests  of 
the  larger  schools,  and  afford  a  field  for  budding  literary  and 
artistic  genius  to  show  its  quality.  Secret,  Greek-letter 
societies  are  sometimes  formed  after  the  fashion  of  the 
colleges.  Not  unfrequently,  too,  voluntary  associations  for 
religious  culture  and  observance  are  maintained  by  the 
students.  All  of  these  organizations  are  commonly  under 
the  immediate  control  of  the  students  themselves ;  teachers 


NOTES  ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          433 

frequently  attend  the  various  meetings,  but  more  as  friendly 
advisers  than  as  governors. 

Those  who  have  completed  the  course  of  study  in  a 
flourishing  secondary  school  will  usually  be  found  organized 
in  an  alumni  association.  The  monthly  or  annual  meetings 
of  such  an  association  become  of  increasing  significance  as 
the  years  pass  and  its  numbers  and  influence  are  enlarged. 

An  account  of  the  development  of  student  activities  in 
the  past  half-century  would  throw  much  light  on  the  inner 
educational  tendencies  of  our  secondary  schools.  In  the 
published  histories  of  individual  schools  and  in  the  occasional 
chapters  of  reminiscence  by  old-time  masters  and  pupils, 
there  is  slowly  accumulating  a  deal  of  information  which 
will  enable  some  historian  of  school  life  to  tell  the  story  and 
declare  its  meaning. 

For  the  Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  the  story  has  been  well 
told  by  Mr.  Cunningham.  Boating  was  introduced  into 
that  institution  in  1864.  The  four-oared  boat,  Winona, 
was  the  piorieer  craft,  and  it  explored  a  new  realm  of  sport 
which  the  boys  were  happy  to  enter  and  possess.  Cricket 
and  baseball  appeared  the  following  year.  This  was  about 
the  time  when  baseball  was  first  winning  its  way  into 
public  favor  and  recognition  as  the  national  game.  It  soon 
drove  cricket  from  the  Exeter  field. 

In  1871  the  trustees  bought  new  athletic  grounds  and 
the  school  sports  assumed  a  new  importance.  The  first 
recorded  game  of  baseball  with  an  outside  nine  was  in 
1875,  when  the  Academy  boys  defeated  the  Eagle  Club  of 
Exeter  by  a  score  of  28  to  12  !  The  interest  in  baseball 
still  centred  in  games  between  nines  representing  the 
several  classes.  But  in  1878  Exeter  defeated  Andover  in 
their  first  inter-academy  game,  and  in  the  return  game 
Andover  defeated  Exeter. 

Football  in  the  sixties  was  still  the  old-fashioned  game. 
But  in  the  seventies  it  took  on  a  more  modern  form,  and 
the  football  struggle  with  Andover  began  the  same  year  a 
that  in  baseball.     The  lengthening  record  of  this  never- 

28 


434         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

ending  contest  is  preserved  with  care  in  both  institution c, 
and  whatever  their  scholastic  announcements  may  say,  it  is  a 
noteworthy  part  of  their  educational  equipment.  Track 
athletics  have  been  added,  and  here  the  "  record  "  has  a  new 
meaning,  of  no  small  significance. 

The  Exonian,  a  paper  managed  by  a  close  group  of 
students,  made  its  appearance  along  with  inter-academy 
athletics.  It  was  not  easy  for  either  teachers  or  pupils  to 
understand  at  first  how  the  freedom  of  the  press  in  school 
could  be  compatible  with  good  order  and  student  subordina- 
tion. But  a  better  understanding  came  with  experience, 
and  now  at  Exeter  as  elsewhere  student  publications  are 
very  much  a  matter  of  course.1 

Mr.  Edmonds  has  given  a  more  extended  account  of  stu- 
dent activities  in  the  Central  High  School  of  Philadelphia. 
This  school  has  had  a  strong  journalistic  bent,  and  has  sent 
out  such  effective  writers  as  George  Alfred  Townsend  and 
Henry  George,  with  many  others  well  known  in  newspaper 
circles.  A  surprising  list  of  student  publications  issued  be- 
fore the  Civil  War,  is  preserved.  One  of  these,  The  Minute 
Book,  was  issued  as  early  as  1849,  and  it  is  said  to  have  had 
"contemporaries  and  rivals."  During  this  same  period  the 
school  abounded  in  literary  societies ;  and  there  was  a 
"  Literary  Congress,"  in  which  each  society  was  represented 
by  three  delegates. 

Journalism  languished  in  the  school  during  the  Civil 
War,  but  after  that  struggle  it  was  revived.  Many  ventures 
ran  each  a  brief  career;  but  with  the  setting  up  of  The 
Mirror,  in  1885,  the  literary  activity  of  the  students  found 
a  well-ordered  and  well-established  means  of  expression. 

The  centre  of  student  interest,  which  in  the  days  of  Pres- 
ident Hart  was  found  in  the  various  literary  and  debating 
societies,  seems  to  have  shifted  within  the  past  generation  to 
athletics.  Before  the  war,  there  was  but  little  organized 
sport  in  the  school,  though  the  playground  was  the  scene  of 
some  lively  games,  and  town-ball,  a  forerunner  of  baseball, 
1  Op.  tit.,  p.  272  if. 


NOTES   ON  SCHOOL  LIFE  AND  STUDIES          435 

aroused  considerable  interest.  The  change  has  come  gradu- 
ally. It  had  hardly  begun  until  the  seventies.  In  the  Cen- 
tennial year  an  athletic  association  was  formed.  Football  was 
then  played,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  Harrow  game. 
There  were  a  few  games  with  neighboring  institutions.  The 
next  year  the  team  set  about  mastering  the  Rugby  rules.  A 
regular  field  day  was  held  in  1876,  the  records  of  which 
have  been  preserved. 

Baseball  was  still  the  favorite  game,  and  so  continued 
well  on  into  the  eighties.  The  formation  of  the  Intercolle- 
giate Football  Association  in  1884  quickened  the  interest 
in  football  in  the  schools  as  well  as  the  colleges.  The  great 
development  of  active  student  life  in  recent  days  is  dated 
from  the  school  year  of  1888-89.  A  school  yell  was  adopted, 
and  prodigious  interest  in  football  was  aroused.  At  the 
present  time  there  are  six  regular  forms  of  athletic  activity 
in  full  progress.  They  are  football,  baseball,  rowing,  track 
athletics,  basket-ball,  and  cricket.1 

In  this  school,  as  in  many  others,  the  athletic  interest 
is  found  to  serve  good  ends.  At  the  same  time  that  this 
fact  is  recognized,  there  is  much  regret  expressed  that  debat- 
ing clubs  and  other  literary  societies  do  not  flouris^  as  in 
former  years.  The  best  school  men  are  generally  interested, 
sincerely  and  deeply,  in  the  athletic  activities  of  their  stu- 
dents, but  would  be  glad  to  see  other  wholesome  forms  of 
student  activity  as  well  sustained. 

1  EDMONDS,  History  of  the  Central  High  School,  c\\.  11  and  12. 


CHAPTEE  XX 
THE     OUTLOOK1 

THE  keynote  of  current  educational  thought  seems  to  have 
been  sounded  by  Professor  John  Dewey  in  his  saying  that, 
The  school  is  not  preparation  for  life :  it  is  life.  Education 
is  to  provide  for  the  future  needs  of  pupils  by  providing  for 
their  real  present  needs.  One  of  the  most  notable  and  com- 
prehensive tendencies  of  secondary  education,  and  of  all 
education,  is  accordingly  the  tendency  to  seek  an  under- 
standing of  the  living,  growing  persons  who  go  to  school ; 
and  to  treat  them  in  a  way  to  promote  their  healthy  growth. 
This  doctrine  is  sound  at  bottom.  Persons  are  the  most  pre- 
cious things  in  all  the  world ;  and  child  persons  are  as  pre- 
cious as  persons  fully  matured.  In  this  view  we  have  true 
humanism.  It  is  a  view  that  makes  the  school  interesting. 
It  is  moral;  for  what  is  morality  after  all  but  fulness  of 
personal  life  ?  It  is  religious,  too.  "  The  knowledge  of  our- 
selves," said  John  Calvin,  "  is  not  only  an  incitement  to 
seek  after  God,  but  likewise  a  considerable  assistance  toward 
finding  him." 

On  the  one  side,  such  doctrine  as  this  is  leading  us  into 
individualism.  It  prompts  the  demand  for  free  election  of 
studies  in  the  secondary  school ;  for  individualized  processes 
of  instruction. 

On  the  other  side,  the  study  of  development  has  shown 
how  strangely  dependent  the  individual  is  on  his  social 

1  The  greater  part  of  this  chapter  was  given  in  an  address  on  Recent  ten- 
dencies in  secondary  education,  delivered  before  the  annual  Convocation  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  at  Albany,  July  2,  1901.  Considerable 
change  has  been  made,  however,  in  the  revision  of  that  address  for  the  present 


THE  OUTLOOK  437 

relationships.  We  see,  in  fact,  that  there  is  nothing  worth 
the  name  of  human  personality  that  has  not  arisen  under 
the  stress  and  strain  of  getting  on  with  one's  fellows.  So 
we  have  come  to  attach  new  significance  to  the  mere  fact 
that  in  school  many  young  people  come  together  and  have 
varied  dealings  one  with  another.  We  are  seeing  that  social 
intercourse  is  not  a  mere  accident  of  school  education,  but 
one  of  the  chief  things  in  school  education. 

We  may  go  further,  and  say  that  the  school  is  not  only 
life  :  it  is  preparation  for  life.  Just  because  it  is  life,  it 
looks  forward  to  more  life.  "The  thoughts  of  youth  are 
long,  long  thoughts."  Any  life  that  does  not  look  forward 
is  poor  and  mean ;  and  we  should  make  a  losing  bargain  if 
we  exchanged  the  old  school  that  concerned  itself  only  with 
the  future,  for  a  new  school  which  should  concern  itself  only 
rcith  the  present. 

/  So  our  secondary  education  looks  forward  to  the  citizenship 
/which  awaits  all  of  our  students,  and  consciously  prepares 
them  for  its  duties.  Whether  they  are  destined  for  the  more 
extended  training  of  the  university  or  not,  it  undertakes  to 
direct  their  attention  toward  public  affairs,  well  knowing 
that  the  time  is  already  come  for  them  to  take  anticipatory 
interest  in  such  things.  It  takes  account,  too,  of  the  fact 
that  each  citizen  must  have  a  life  work  peculiarly  his  own, 
in  order  to  discharge  his  full  obligation  to  the  body  politic. 
How  secondary  education  may  pay  due  regard  to  this  fact 
and  yet  avoid  the  injustice  of  binding  our  youth  at  an  early 
age  to  a  course  in  life  which  may  not  be  rightly  their  own, 
is  one  of  the  hardest  problems  with  which  we  have  to  deal. 
May  I  venture  to  add,  that  our  secondary  education  looks 
to  the  larger  life.  It  has  a  thought  for  life  that  is  above 
and  all  about  this  life.  We  are  finding  that  the  eager  ado- 
lescence of  our  academies  and  high  schools  is  above  all  skep- 
tical and  religious.  The  two  things  go  together  and  belong 
together  at  this  age.  Education  does  not  altogether  meet 
the  needs  of  the  present  life  of  our  youth  if  it  does  not  verge 
upon  the  shadowy  fields  of  things  too  real  to  be  seen. 


438         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

The  more  important  tendencies  of  our  secondary  education 
seein  to  lie  in  the  directions  indicated  above.  Let  us  now 
examine  them  a  little  more  closely. 

1.  And  first  some  tendencies  affecting  our  courses  of  study. 
A  recent  writer  has  said  that  "  The  time  for  the  finishing 
school  has  gone  by."  With  equal  truth  it  may  be  said  that 
the  time  for  the  "fitting  school"  has  gone  by.  I  do  not 
mean  by  "  fitting  school "  a  school  for  the  education  of  youth 
who  are  preparing  for  college,  but  rather  a  school  which  pre- 
pares for  college  whether  it  educates  or  not.  The  proper 
business  of  every  school  is  education.  The  growing  recogni- 
tion of  this  fact  is  one  of  the  most  marked  of  present  ten- 
dencies. The  sharp  distinction  between  preparation  for 
college  and  "  preparation  for  life  "  is  fading  out.  It  seems 
to  be  our  present  working  hypothesis  that,  so  far  as  general 
culture  is  concerned,  preparation  for  a  higher  school,  rightly 
conceived,  coincides  with  preparation  for  life.  This  principle 
may  not  extend  to  secondary  schools  of  a  vocational  char- 
acter. It  can  hardly  be  accepted  as  a  finality  with  regard 
even  to  schools  of  general  culture.  But  it  has  stood  exami- 
nation and  trial  sufficiently  well  to  warrant  us  in  employing 
it  as  a  working  hypothesis. 

We  may  put  it  in  different  ways.  Secondary  education 
which  is  not  good  enough  for  the  purposes  of  the  colleges  is 
not  good  enough  for  the  purposes  of  life.  Schools  of  middle 
grade  which  fail  to  give  good  preparation  for  life,  fail  also  to 
give  good  preparation  for  college.  Either  way  you  turn  it, 
the  doctrine  calls  for  some  re-examination  of  our  school  cur- 
riculums,  and  perhaps  for  some  little  change. 

In  the  history  of  our  courses  of  study,  we  began  with  one 
fixed  and  strongly  unified  course  for  all.  The  demand  for  a 
recognition  of  varied  needs  has  led  to  numerous  changes  from 
this  old,  invariable  standard.  Parallel  courses  were  first 
offered,  each  of  them  fixed  and  definite.  Then  options  were 
allowed  in  one  or  all  of  these  parallel  courses.  The  number 
of  such  courses  was  increased.  The  range  of  options  was 
enlarged.  Then  we  began  to  hear  of  the  doctrine  of  free 


THE  OUTLOOK  439 

election.  This  seems  to  be  the  polar  opposite  of  that  fixed 
course  for  all  with  which  we  started.  It  was  necessary  for 
us  to  come  to  this  extreme,  and  get  a  survey  of  the  whole 
movement  from  this  side,  in  order  to  find  out  just  where  in 
the  intervening  territory  we  belong. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  appear  from  this  sort  of  exami- 
nation is  the  fact  that  English  is  an  indispensable  subject 
in  any  curriculum.  This  is  admitted  by  nearly  every  one, 
even  when  it  is  not  admitted  that  any  other  study  is  indis- 
pensable. English  has  taken  the  place  occupied  by  Latin 
in  the  old  curriculum.  If  other  single  subjects  are  not  es- 
sential, we  are  coming  to  think  that  an  outlook  into  certain 
other  broad  fields  of  study  is  necessary.  The  Committee  of 
Ten  led  the  way  in  pointing  out  this  need,  and  the  later 
Committee  on  College-Entrance  Kequirements  has  formu- 
lated a  general  plan  under  which  the  need  may  be  met.  In 
fact,  the  committee  last  named  seems  to  have  thrown  a  real 
Copernican  suggestion  into  the  midst  of  our  confusion  in 
this  matter.  What  they  have  proposed  will  not  differ  very 
greatly  in  any  given  case  from  what  is  already  customary 
in  many  schools.  But  it  serves  to  show  how  the  Ptolemaic 
tables  of  courses  which  many  large  schools  present  may  be 
simplified  in  accordance  with  ideas  which  they  really  imply. 
Parallel  courses  with  a  fair  number  of  options;  election 
limited  only  by  the  requirement  of  "  constants  "  in  groups ; 
and  even  free  election  under  the  direction  of  an  efficient 
school  principal,  will  all  come  in  practice  to  pretty  nearly 
the  same  thing:  and  what  they  come  to  is  fairly  rep- 
resented by  the  recommendations  of  this  national  Com- 
mittee on  College-Entrance  Kequirements. 

But  what  does  it  all  amount  to  ?  We  may  put  the  case  in 
some  such  way  as  this:  Education  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave  is  largely  a  matter  of  keeping  good  company.  For 
our  adolescent,  with  his  vibrations  between  the  desire  to  be 
let  alone  and  the  extreme  craving  for  companionship,  habit- 
nation  to  good  company  is  of  prime  importance.  The  school 
tends  to  set  one  free  from  mere  dependence  upon  the  actual 


440         THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

companionships  of  daily  intercourse,  extending  the  relation- 
ship, as  it  does,  to  the  great  and  good  of  all  times  and  all 
lands.  It  increases  one's  capacity  for  finding  companions  in 
the  secret  chambers  of  books  and  in  the  still  more  shrewdly 
hidden  secrets  of  the  material  world.  Our  young  scholar  is 
a  provincial  of  the  provincials.  He  must  now  go  to  court, 
and  come  to  know  the  wisest  and  fairest  of  this  world.  He 
is  to  be  introduced  to  the  best,  and  among  them  he  may 
make  such  special  friendships  as  he  is  fitted  for. 

Something  like  this,  I  believe,  is  the  significance  of 
Matthew  Arnold's  saying  that  in  secondary  schools  the 
youth  is  to  find  "  vital  knowledge,"  though  we  may  not  make 
Matthew  Arnold  responsible  for  our  interpretation  of  vital 
knowledge.  It  is  only  contact  with  the  world  of  culture 
that  can  bring  our  young  people  out  of  their  crude,  provin- 
cial individuality ;  that  can  really  vitalize  their  humanity. 
They  must  be  brought  into  relations  with  that  one  world  of 
culture,  if  they  are  to  be  made  really  alive.  But  they  may 
touch  it  more  intimately  at  some  points  than  at  others,  for 
what  is  vital  knowledge  for  one  is  not  always  vital  knowl- 
edge for  another. 

These  considerations  suggest  various  conclusions.  No 
study  is  worthy  a  place  in  our  programme  which  has  not 
commanded  the  full  devotion  of  some  master  mind.  All  stu- 
dents must  be  introduced  to  the  same  civilization,  and  since 
all  are  human  their  several  ways  of  approaching  it  will  not  be 
fundamentally  different.  What  seems  still  more  significant 
is  this :  Even  if  it  be  true  that  what  is  best  for  one  student 
is  a  little  different  from  what  is  best  for  another,  the  fact 
remains  that  each  student  needs  for  his  own  purposes  a 
well-organized,  unitary  curriculum.  I  fear  we  are  tending 
toward  miscellaneous  election  from  a  miscellaneous  mass  of 
offered  courses.  But  there  is  a  deeper  tendency,  which  will 
surely  become  dominant  —  a  tendency  toward  organic  elec- 
tion from  what  is  offered,  no  matter  how  miscellaneous  that 
may  be.  A  different  curriculum  for  each  student,  if  you 
will ;  but  a  real  curriculum. 


THE  OUTLOOK  441 

One  special  question  cannot  be  overlooked  —  the  question 
of  the  status  of  classical  studies.  But  little  is  heard  here 
in  these  days  of  the  old-time  controversy  over  Latin  and 
Greek  in  the  schools.  Perhaps  it  is  because  the  battle  has 
been  won  by  the  opponents  of  absolute  requirements  in  these 
subjects.  There  are  many  true  friends  of  Latin  and  Greek 
who  are  not  friendly  to  required  Latin  and  Greek ;  and  the 
number  of  schools  is  now  small  indeed  in  which  the  student 
may  not  omit  one  or  both  of  the  classic  languages. 

It  is  significant  that,  at  the  same  time,  Latin  is  greatly  on 
the  gain  in  the  schools.  The  case  of  Greek  is  different,  and 
some  good  friends  of  classical  learning  are  ready  to  predict 
that  the  study  of  Greek  will  at  no  very  distant  day  be 
handed  over  to  the  colleges.  The  opening  of  courses  in  be- 
ginning Greek  in  some  of  the  higher  institutions  is  thought 
to  point  in  this  direction.  The  fact  should  not  be  disregarded, 
however,  that  while  Greek  has  not  quite  held  its  own  rela- 
tively, in  secondary  schools,  the  actual  number  of  those 
studying  Greek  in  the  schools  has  greatly  increased  in  the 
past  decade. 

On  the  whole,  the  enlargement  of  freedom  is  not  working 
badly  in  its  bearing  on  classical  studies.  If  fewer  students 
are  pursuing  such  studies  because  required  to  do  so  or  under 
the  pressure  of  tradition,  more  are  pursuing  them  from 
deliberate  choice,  either  their  own  or  their  advisers'.  And 
this  may  be  hoped  for  in  the  future.  It  is  not  simply  to  be 
desired  that  all  should  study  the  ancient  languages  or  that 
an  increasing  number  should  study  them ;  but  rather  that 
those  whose  surest  approach  to  vital  knowledge  is  along  the 
historical  line  that  our  civilization  has  followed  since  the 
north  of  Europe  began  to  be  civilized,  shall  follow  that  line 
freely  and  whole-heartedly.  There  will  always  be  in  this 
number  a  goodly  proportion  of  the  choicest  spirits  among 
us.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  they  should  have  all  stim- 
ulus and  encouragement  to  do  their  best  in  their  own  best 
way ;  and  it  is  equally  desirable  that  those  whose  best 
approach  to  vital  knowledge  is  along  some  other  line  should 
be  equally  encouraged  and  receive  equal  stimulus. 


442         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Whether  through  the  classic  literature  or  that  of  the 
modern  languages,  English  included,  or  through  some 
study  of  music  and  the  other  arts,  a  sound  aesthetic  culture 
should  be  more  generally  sought  after  in  our  schools.  This 
is  especially  difficult  in  the  education  of  our  adolescents, 
1  with  their  callow  contempt  for  beauty  or  equally  callow 
1  sentimentality.  Instruction  in  the  appreciation  of  art  that 
shall  not  degenerate  into  pretty  nothings  and  that  shall 
really  touch  and  teach  the  soul  of  youth,  will  accomplish 
untold  good,  and  ways  will  surely  be  found  through  which 
such  instruction  may  actually  be  given. 

Before  leaving  the  question  of  the  course  of  study,  let  us 
glance  at  the  relation  of  the  colleges  to  the  schools.  There 
has  been  a  good  deal  of  just  complaint  from  the  side  of  the 
schools,  that  the  colleges  shaped  their  entrance  requirements 
solely  with  reference  to  what  they  believed  to  be  their  own 
needs,  and  not  at  all  with  reference  to  the  conditions  which 
must  be  reckoned  with  in  the  schools.  Of  late  we  have  heard 
complaint  from  the  side  of  college  men  that  the  secondary- 
school  men  were  becoming  too  independent ;  that  they  ex- 
pect the  college  to  accept  whatever  they  may  offer.  There 
is  great  hope  for  the  future  in  this  growing  self-respect  of 
secondary -school  teachers.  It  suggests  very  pointedly  that 
school  and  college  should  meet  on  common  ground  and 
work  out  their  common  problems  together.  It  was  a  bad 
state  of  things  when  the  question  whether  students  prepar- 
ing for  college  should  take  one  study  or  another  in  the  sec- 
ondary school,  could  be  decided  by  a  compromise  between 
rival  college  departments,  represented  in  a  faculty  meeting, 
without  a  moment's  consideration  of  what  might  be  intrinsi- 
cally best  for  the  students  themselves  at  this  stage  of  their 
schooling.  College  faculties  should  remember  that  every 
vote  which  they  pass  relative  to  entrance  requirements  is 
legislation  for  the  internal  working  of  secondary  schools. 
Such  legislation  should  at  least  be  based  on  some  intelligent 
conception  of  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  secondary 
school. 


\\1 


THE  OUTLOOK  443 

To  put  it  in  other  words :  The  question  of  college  entrance 
requirements  is  a  question  of  relationship  between  two  insti- 
tutions, each  having  its  separate  responsibility  to  the  public. 
The  college  should  set  the  secondary  school  the  example  of 
considering  both  terms  of  this  relationship  with  perfect  fair- 
ness. It  has  sometimes  happened  that  the  men  of  the  acad- 
emies and  high  schools  have  taken  a  more  comprehensive 
view  of  this  question  than  have  the  men  of  the  colleges  and 
universities. 

One  thing  seems  reasonably  clear ;  and  that  is  that  this 
question  of  admission  requirements  is  an  educational  ques 
tion,  and  should  be  settled  on  educational  grounds.  It  seems 
equally  clear  that  the  same  form  of  settlement  should  be 
employed  as  that  which  serves  in  dealing  with  the  larger 
question  of  the  proper  formulation  of  curriculums  for  all  non- 
technical secondary  schools.  At  least  for  present  purposes, 
the  method  followed  by  the  Committee  on  College-Entrance 
Requirements  in  this  matter  seems  worthy  of  general  ac- 
ceptance, although  some  specific  recommendations  of  this 
committee  are  open  to  objection. 

We  may  draw  up  a  second  working  hypothesis  in  some 
such  terms  as  the  following :  The  interests  of  higher  educa- 
tion will  lest  be  served  by  such  prescription  of  college  entrance 
requirements,  and  such  tests  of  preparation,  as  will  do  the 
most  to  vitalize  instruction  in  the  secondary  schools. 

2.  There  are  many  reasons  why  the  question  of  teachers 
is  more  important  than  the  question  of  studies.  And  the 
conviction  is  now  well  grounded  that  teachers  of  secondary 
schools  as  well  as  teachers  of  primary  schools  must  be  spe- 
cially trained  for  their  work.  Twenty  years  ago  this  was  not 
true.  No  one  institution  has  done  more  to  bring  American 
schoolmen  to  a  new  mind  in  this  matter  than  has  Columbia 
University,  with  its  Teachers  College.  But  the  pioneering 
was  done  by  western  state  universities,  and  they  do  not 
intend  to  be  left  behind  in  a  movement  which  has  now 
become  national.  Voices  will  still  be  heard  protesting 
against  the  newer  demand  for  professional  training  on  the 


i 

IS 


444         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

part  of  those  who  would  teach  in  our  high  schools  and  acad- 
emies. But  the  time  is  past  when  such  objection  can  seri- 
ously hamper  the  general  movement.  Let  it  be  added  that 
the  time  is  past  when  that  movement  can  be  seriously  ham- 
pered by  mistakes  and  indequacies  in  the  training  attempted. 
But  it  is  necessary  that  such  mistakes  and  inadequacies  be 
corrected  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  such  correction  is  now 
the  order  of  the  day. 

What  do  we  look  for  in  our  teachers  ?  First,  by  all  means, 
a  moral  quality  that  is  more  than  negatively  good  —  some 
real  warmth  of  loyalty  to  righteousness  ;  and,  in  addition, 
something  that  is  contagious  about  it.  It  is  the  characteris- 
tic that  it  may  be  caught  by  others  which  elevates  it  from  a 
merely  personal  quality  to  a  teacher  quality.  Secondly,  a 
gracious  bearing,  in  full  accord  with  such  morals.  A  divorce 
of  manners  from  morals  is  bad  for  both.  Thirdly,  a  living 
intellect.  To  be  such  it  must  be  active  and  must  live  on 
substantial  food.  Fourthly,  the  disposition  to  communicate 
and  some  aptitude  for  such  communication.  Fifthly,  a 
readiness  to  improve  and  to  co-operate  with  others  in  mak- 
ing improvement,  which  is  what  .we  understand  by  profes- 
sional spirit. 

Some  of  this  must  be  got  by  birth  or  not  at  all.  For  such 
portion,  training  colleges  are  in  no  way  responsible.  Then 
there  is  a  great  deal  to  be  done  by  way  of  improving  natural 
endowments  on  the  peculiarly  personal  side  ;  but  we  only 
make  ourselves  tedious  when  we  draw  up  for  prospective 
teachers  classified  lists  of  moral  virtues  and  their  contrary 
vices.  Better,  so  far  as  these  things  are  concerned,  encour- 
age that  self-respect  which  acts  frankly  its  own  part,  and 
that  respect  for  excellence  which  renders  one  responsive  to 
good  example. 

We  get  down  to  the  serious  business  of  training  in  that 
which  remains,  and  difficult  questions  here  present  them- 
selves. Teaching  is  an  art,  and  we  shall  disappoint  the  ex- 
pectations we  raise  if  we  undertake  to  teach  it  wholly  as 
applied  science.  But  it  is  an  art  which  is  steadily  drawing 


THE  OUTLOOK  445 

nearer  to  the  related  sciences.  At  present  it  is  more  scien- 
tific than  oratory,  less  scientific  than  medicine.  It  must 
then  be  mastered  as  an  art,  and  as  very  intimately  bound  up 
with  those  personal  qualities  which  it  is  so  difficult  to  treat 
of  apart  from  mere  subjective  sentiment.  What  sort  of  in- 
struction is  available  here,  if  instructor  and  student  would 
both  maintain  a  proper  self-respect  ? 

For  one  thing,  the  faithful  observation  of  good  teaching 
done  by  others,  as  in  the  German  Probejahr.  A  difficult 
thing  this  is  to  manage.  It  repays  effort,  however,  if  it 
awakens  the  conviction  that  one  can  learn  from  the  best 
that  is  going  on  near  at  hand. 

"  Here  work  enough  to  watch 
The  Master  work,  and  catch 
Hints  of  the  proper  craft,  tricks  of  the  tool's  true  play." 

Then  practice  teaching  under  guidance.  Not  enough  of 
this  to  master  the  process,  however.  Such  training  sets  and 
stiffens  like  a  mould.  But  enough  to  enable  the  beginner 
to  avoid  waste  of  time  and  of  child-material  —  costly  stuff 

in  finding  his  own  best  way  of  doing  his  own  work; 

enough,  too,  to  discover  and  cast  out  the  cases  of  born 
incompetence. 

If  the  sciences  do  not  yet  dominate  this  art  of  teaching, 
as  they  already  dominate  the.  art  of  medicine,  they  are 
having  more  and  more  to  do  with  it,  especially  the  sciences 
of  human  development.  Enough  of  this  our  prospective 
teacher  should  get  to  face  him  hopefully  toward  the  scien- 
tific side  of  things,  in  confidence  that  more  and  more  defi- 
nite guidance  in  his  art  will  come  from  that  direction. 
Enough  of  the  philosophy  and  history  of  education,  too,  to 
help  him  understand  that  education  is  a  progressive  aspect 
of  human  society,  to  put  him  in  the  attitude  of  co-opera- 
tion with  fellow  schoolmen  in  furthering  that  progress. 
Finally,  emphasis  must  be  laid,  all  the  time,  on  soundness  of 
scholarship.  The  colleges  that  train  our  secondary-school 
teachers  should  give  forth  no  uncertain  sound  in  their  re- 


446          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

quirement  of  scholarly  excellence.  Otherwise  they  will  be 
likely  to  fail  in  the  whole  of  their  undertaking.  Even  the 
morality  of  their  students  —  the  real  if  not  the  conventional 
morality  —  will  be  uncertain  if  their  scholarly  standards 
are  low. 

We  may  be  modest  in  making  claims  with  regard  to  the 
professional  training  toward  which  the  teaching  craft  of  our 
secondary  schools  is  tending.  But  many  signs  show  that 
the  tendency  is  well  under  way ;  and  with  all  of  its  present 
imperfections,  the  training  offered  is  working  gradually 
toward  stability,  solidity,  and  effectiveness. 

Yet,  after  all  is  said,  the  discovery  of  teachers  is  as 
important  as  the  making  of  teachers.  The  fact  that  so 
much  of  the  real  teacher-quality  is  inborn  gives  emphasis 
to  this  view.  In  part  this  discovery  of  teachers  is  the  work 
of  colleges  and  training  schools.  In  part  it  is  the  work  of 
superintendents  and  principals,  and  they  should  be  highly 
trained  and  competent  men  themselves  that  they  may  dis- 
charge this  duty  intelligently.  But  in  a  larger  sense  the 
discovery  is  a  result  of  a  favorable  organization  of  the  whole 
set  of  conditions  and  associations  which  surround  the 
teacher's  calling.  We  look  for  real  life,  and  life  at  its 
soundest  and  best,  in  these  secondary  schools.  To  have  it, 
it  is  necessary  that  young  men  and  women  who  represent 
our  American  life  at  its  soundest  and  best,  shall  be  drawn 
into  teaching  positions  in  these  schools,  and  that  those  who 
show  special  aptitude  for  such  work  shall  find  good  induce- 
ments to  stay  in  it.  Such  inducements  are  the  opportunity 
to  do  their  work  to  good  advantage,  reasonably  good  salaries, 
and  such  social  standing  as  will  encourage  self-respect  on 
their  part  and  on  the  part  of  their  families.  It  is  plain 
that  these  inducements  are  to  be  provided  in  part  by  the 
action  of  school  trustees  and  boards  of  education  and  in 
part  by  the  general  attitude  of  the  communities  back  of 
those  boards.  The  real  discoverer  is  the  community,  acting 
under  such  leadership  as  it  may  choose. 

But  there  are  other  agencies  at  work.     Whatever  is  done 


THE  OUTLOOK  447 

to  render  education  more  professional  tends  to  draw  toward 
it  men  who  have  professional  tastes.  In  this  point  of  view, 
the  teaching  body  is  the  discoverer.  Excellence  in  the  pro- 
fession tends  to  attract  and  discover  excellence.  Every 
advance  in  the  scientific,  historical,  or  philosophical  treat- 
ment of  education  tends  to  draw  to  it  persons  of  intellectual 
taste  and  ability.  In  recent  years  we  have  seen  men  turn- 
ing to  education  because  of  the  marked  improvement  of  our 
pedagogical  literature.  Then,  the  knitting  together  of  the 
interests  of  our  secondary  schools  and  universities  works  in 
the  same  direction.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  the 
teacher  in  a  high  school  finds  himself,  in  a  way,  brought 
into  the  life  of  the  universities.  The  influence  of  such  a 
relation  is  not  to  be  disregarded. 

Yet  the  chief  responsibility  comes  back  to  boards  of  con- 
trol and  the  communities  to  which  the  teachers  minister. 
We  cannot  urge  too  strongly  upon  them  the  necessity  that 
they  discover  superior  teachers  for  their  secondary  schools, 
by  making  the  teaching  positions  in  those  schools  such  as 
superior  men  can  accept  and  hold  without  loss  of  self-respect. 
Within  the  past  few  years  we  have  repeatedly  seen  first- 
class  men  throwing  up  high-school  positions  in  disgust  at 
the  petty  politics  with  which  those  positions  were  beset,  or 
in  despair  of  being  able  to  provide  for  their  families  with 
the  salaries  which  those  positions  offered.  Such  a  state  of 
affairs  is  deadening. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  conclusively  whether  the  general 
movement  of  the  time  is  forward  or  backward  in  these 
particulars  ;  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  on  the  whole 
we  are  improving.  There  are  many  indications  that  the 
standard  of  preparation  for  secondary-school  positions  is 
rapidly  advancing.  Partly  as  cause  and  partly  as  effect  of 
this  change,  the  general  standing  of  secondary-school  teach- 
ers in  the  community  seems  to  be  rising.  A  rapid  increase 
in  the  number  of  college  graduates  seeking  high  school  posi- 
tions may  prevent  salaries  from  rising  proportionately  with 
other  forms  of  public  recognition,  but  we  need  not  fear  the 
ultimate  outcome  of  this  condition. 


448          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Within  the  universities  there  is  observable  a  growing 
sentiment  in  favor  of  requiring  a  minimum  amount  of 
graduate  work  of  students  who  are  to  be  recommended  as 
teachers  in  secondary  schools.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
this  may  lead  in  time  to  the  recognition  of  the  master's 
degree  as  the  standard  teaching  degree.  For  many  reasons 
this  proposal  seems  worthy  of  serious  consideration. 

Speaking  broadly,  the  doctrine  that  the  school  is  real  life 
may  be  expected  to  work  to  the  advantage  of  teachers  and 
teaching.  It  puts  the  school  into  closer  touch  with  the 
home,  and  carries  into  the  school  the  better  standards  of 
the  community.  The  growth  of  wealth  and  the  sharpening 
of  social  distinctions  may  in  some  measure  negative  this 
tendency ;  but  in  other  ways  it  will  be  reinforced  by 
those  very  conditions.  It  is  not  too  much  to  expect  that 
the  new  century  will  see  a  new  generation  of  great  school- 
men. If  there  has  been  no  Thomas  Arnold  nor  Edward 
Thring  in  our  American  schools,  we  have  had  many  excellent 
teachers  from  Ezekiel  Cheever  down.  Let  our  best  men 
find  encouragement  and  recognition,  both  public  and  fra- 
ternal, awaiting  them  within  the  teaching  profession,  as 
other  men  have  found  in  other  professions  ;  and  our  teachers 
of  world-greatness  will  in  due  time  appear. 

3.    Some   comparison   of   the   tendencies   of  public   and 

private  education  should  be  made ;  or,  taking  the  two  more 

characteristic  forms,  let  us  consider  the  public  high  school 

—  a  day  school — on  the  one  hand,  and  the  private  boarding 

school  on  the  other. 

The  students  in  the  high  school  are  in  daily  touch  with 
the  home  life  and  the  general  life  of  the  community.  In 
the  boarding  school  the  school  life  is  for  the  time  being  the 
whole  of  life  for  the  students.  The  disposition  to  regard 
school  life  as  real  life  may  be  expected,  then,  to  affect  in 
different  ways  these  two  types  of  institution. 

The  high  school  is  in  some  respects  more  in  danger  of 
isolation  —  of  separation  from  the  real  life  of  its  students  - 
than  schools  of  the  other  sort.     It  is  possible  for  students 


THE   OUTLOOK  449 

to  have  a  whole  range  of  interests  belonging  to  the  hours 
not  spent  in  school,  and  even  to  think  of  school  interests  as 
relatively  unimportant.  What  more  frequently  happens  is 
that  the  outside  interests  mix  in  a  great  variety  of  ways  with 
those  of  the  school,  with  a  result  that  is  confusing  in  the 
extreme. 

There  is  a  strongly  marked  tendency  in  American  com- 
munities to  permit  young  people,  while  yet  in  the  high 
school,  to  forestall  the  social  pleasures  which  a  more  whole- 
some taste  would  reserve  for  later  enjoyment.  The  aping  of 
college  society  on  the  part  of  high-school  students  adds  to 
this  evil.  The  distractions  referred  to  are  for  the  most  part 
innocent  enough  in  themselves.  But  they  detract  from  the 
seriousness  of  our  secondary  education,  and  tend  to  a  certain 
pettiness  of  scholastic  attainment. 

The  students  in  German  day  schools  are  almost  as  com- 
pletely removed  from  the  outer  world  in  their  hours  out 
of  school  as  if  they  lived  within  school  walls ;  for  the  school 
authorities  can  do  much  toward  regulating  the  home  life  in 
the  interest  of  studies.  Our  American  disposition  is  against 
this  sort  of  regulation,  and  we  must  seek  an  American 
solution  of  the  difficulty. 

We  have  wished  to  see  more  of  real  life  in  the  school, 
and  here  we  find  real  life  jostling  the  school  in  a  way  that 
is  very  embarrassing.  The  trouble  is,  however,  that  the 
school  may  be  jostled  by  life  without  being  in  touch  with 
life.  The  first  thing,  apparently,  to  be  done  by  way  of 
counteracting  this  tendency  to  distraction  is  to  make  the 
instruction  in  the  school  more  vital  —  to  bring  it,  in  other 
words,  into  closer  touch  with  the  rest  of  life.  The  remark 
is  very  general,  but  this  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  detail. 
And  there  are  teachers  who  are  translating  the  general 
principle  into  daily  actuality,  and  making  the  things  of  the 
school  more  alive  for  their  students  than  those  interests 
that  would  attract  them  abroad.  First,  then,  the  instruction 
in  the  schools  must  have  more  of  that  living  touch  with 
reality.  Then  the  public  must  be  led  to  a  better  under- 

29 


450         THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

standing  of  the  place  and  need  of  the  school.  For  this  diffi- 
culty cannot  be  fully  dealt  with  by  dealing  with  individuals : 
it  is  a  public  matter  and  calls  for  a  change  of  public  senti- 
ment. If  the  people  are  persuaded  that  the  school  is  doing 
work  of  superior  excellence  and  of  immediate  significance 
for  real  life,  it  will  be  able  to  make  its  way  and  accomplish 
its  purpose  even  in  one  of  our  comfortable  and  happy  com- 
munities where  parents  obey  their  children  faithfully. 

One  thing  should  be  added  here:  We  are  coming  to 
understand  that  the  various  school  societies,  literary,  musi- 
cal, athletic,  and  the  like,  represent  something  that  belongs  to 
education,  because  it  belongs  to  the  real  life  of  the  pupil  in 
the  school.  We  cannot  longer  treat  these  things  as  mere 
incidents  or  accidents.  The  emphasis  may  be  misplaced  in 
many  ways  in  dealing  with  them,  but  their  integral  con- 
nection with  the  other  employments  of  the  school  must  now 
be  recognized. 

Eeferring  to  the  other  type  of  school,  we  observe  that 
private  boarding  schools  seem  divided  between  two  ideals  — 
that  of  the  home  and  that  of  the  college.  All  such  schools 
must  unavoidably  be  influenced  by  both  of  these  ideals, 
though  in  varying  degrees.  In  general  they  seem  to  be 
tending  toward  the  increase  of  student  responsibility  for 
student  conduct.  Here,  too,  many  things  which  were  once 
regarded  as  side  occupations  —  mere  time-filling  and  play  — 
are  now  seen  to  be  vital  to  the  educational  function  of  the 
school.  As  regards  athletics,  we  seem  to  have  taken  lessons 
from  the  English,  who  have  long  recognized  the  rightful 
interest  of  the  school  in  the  various  schoolboy  sports.  It  is 
significant  that  continental  educators,  too,  are  looking  to 
England  in  this  matter.  It  may  be  that  football  will  sup- 
plant studies  in  English  at  the  centre  of  the  school  curricu- 
lum, as  English  has  already  supplanted  Latin!  That  is 
hardly  to  be  expected ;  but  the  teacher  who  is  hunting  for 
the  real  boy  to  teach  makes  no  mistake  in  the  conclusion 
that  a  large  part  of  him  is  on  the  field  engaged  in  some  vigor- 
ous game. 


THE  OUTLOOK  451 

Private  schools  are  sometimes  organized  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  making  experiment,  and  that  usually  along  the 
line  of  some  specific  educational  reform.  Much  good  service 
has  "been  done  by  the  pioneer  work  of  such  schools.  But 
by  far  the  greater  number  of  private  schools  are  notably 
conservative,  preferring  to  follow  good  precedent  and  good 
leadership.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  with  the  gradual  relaxa- 
tion of  close  prescription  in  college-entrance  requirements, 
academies,  and  other  privately  managed  institutions  will 
undertake  a  wider  range  of  judicious  experimentation,  and 
so  lead  the  way  to  improvements  in  education  in  which  the 
high  schools  may  be  able  to  follow  them. 

The  possibility  of  giving  special  attention  to  individual 
needs  is  one  of  the  chief  advantages  enjoyed  in  private  insti- 
tutions ;  and  there  is,  perhaps,  no  particular  in  which  they 
can  do  the  whole  world  of  education  a  greater  service  than 
in  marking  out.  the  most  effective  methods  of  individual 
treatment.  Many  forms  of  individual  need  depend  on  physi- 
cal and  mental  conditions  which  may  be  described  as  patho- 
logical. It  is  in  such  cases  especially  that  education  should 
add  to  its  tact,  science.  By  extending  the  application  of 
scientific  knowledge  to  such  cases,  private  schools  may  point 
the  way  which  public  schools  will  eventually  follow. 

There  are  many  signs  of  growing  interest  in  religious 
education.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  after  many  years 
of  effort  in  the  building  up  of  primary  schools  on  the  one 
hand  and  colleges  and  universities  on  the  other,  is  now  turn- 
ing its  attention  to  the  establishment  of  high  schools.  It  is 
not  at  all  unlikely  that  a  marked  increase  in  such  schools 
may  be  seen  in  the  near  future.  Other  religious  denomina- 
tions, too,  are  showing  much  concern  for  the  establishment 
of  schools  for  education  of  a  secondary  grade.  Of  course, 
the  religious  motive  is  dominant  in  this  movement. 

But  the  studies  of  the  past  decade  in  the  psychology 
of  adolescence  have  emphasized  the  significance  of  religious 
forces  in  the  stage  of  development  with  which  all  secondnry 
education  has  to  do.  It  is  to  be  expected  that  many  high- 


452         TEE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

school  students  will  pass  through  times  of  great  religious 
unrest  which  will  have  an  important  bearing  upon  their 
whole  intellectual  and  moral  development.  The  attitude  of 
secondary -school  teachers  toward  such  facts  will  undoubtedly 
command  a  large  measure  of  attention  in  the  years  that  are 
just  before  us. 

As  the  nature  of  the  storm  and  stress  period  of  youth 
comes  to  be  better  understood,  the  extreme  delicacy  of  the 
problem  of  religious  instruction  in  this  period  becomes  more 
evident.  Teachers  in  strictly  denominational  schools  dis- 
cover that  their  task  is  not  so  simple  as  the  mere  setting- 
forth  of  the  doctrines  they  desire  to  inculcate.  The  formal 
acceptance  of  doctrines  is  found  to  count  for  little  in  real 
life,  and  particularly  at  this  stage  of  life ;  while  personal 
convictions  are  all-powerful.  The  teacher,  accordingly,  in  a 
religious  academy  learns  to  be  patient  with  callow  skepti- 
cism and  to  let  it  run  its  course.  He  learns  to  let  the 
young  skeptic  take  devious  paths  of  speculation,  that  he 
may  approach  the  faith  in  his  own  way  and  arrive  at  settled 
confidence  in  his  own  time.  Such  a  teacher  is  not  inactive, 
to  be  sure,  but  puts  in  a  timely  word  of  caution,  information, 
and  sympathetic  guidance ;  persuading  the  learner,  when 
the  occasion  is  opportune,  that  his  new-recruited  wisdom 
will  become  more  wise  when  it  falls  into  line  with  the  best 
wisdom  of  his  fellowmen,  and  steps  out  to  music  that  has 
sounded  the  march  of  centuries. 

The  conscientious  and  scientific-minded  teacher  in  the 
public  high  school  cannot  be  unmindful  of  the  fact  that 
those  under  his  instruction  have  the  same  sort  of  develop- 
ment to  go  through  as  those  in  private  and  church  schools, 
and  that  at  times  the  real  life  they  are  living  from  day  to 
day  is  centred  as  much  in  their  rising  religious  and  philo- 
sophic doubt  and  aspiration  as  in  their  athletic  or  social 
interests.  And  he  is  at  liberty  to  help  them  as  the  teacher 
in  the  private  school  helps  his  students,  except  in  the  one 
point  of  the  doctrinal  content  of  the  religious  consciousness. 
To  some,  this  exception  seems  to  cover  everything  of  capital 


THE  OUTLOOK  453 

importance.  To  others,  it  seems  to  relate  to  an  altogether 
subordinate  matter,  or  a  matter  that  may  better  be  treated 
apart  from  the  ordinary  school  instruction,  in  a  separate 
institution.  It  is  well  that  free  play  is  allowed  under  our 
system  for  the  satisfaction  of  a  wide  range  of  tastes  and  con- 
victions in  this  matter.  A  governmental  monopoly  is  not  desir- 
able in  any  stage  of  our  educational  system ;  perhaps  least  of 
all  at  the  secondary  stage.  The  public  schools  must  be  non- 
sectarian  for  generations  to  come  —  probably  as  long  as 
religious  denominations  shall  exist.  And  we  make  no  mis- 
take when  we  regard  such  schools  as  constituting  one  of  the 
crowning  glories  of  our  national  life,  and  a  strong  support  of 
much  that  is  best  in  our  American  civilization.  But  private 
and  denominational  schools  should  be  welcomed  too,  and 
recognized  as  having  a  work  of  their  own  to  do  —  as  sup- 
plementing the  noble  scheme  of  education  under  public 
management,  which  has  been  found  so  well  suited  to  the 
general  needs  of  our  people. 

We  may  hope,  too,  that  fraternal  relations  between  teachers 
of  public  and  private  schools  will  be  more  generally  cultivated 
in  the  future  than  they  have  been  in  the  past.  Each  of 
these  great  bodies  of  teachers  needs  the  help  of  the  other  to 
stir  it  up  in  the  way  of  making  its  instruction  more  thor- 
oughly educational,  which  means  more  true  to  life.  In  the 
religious  aspect  of  secondary  instruction  the  teachers  in 
schools  of  either  type  are  working  under  limitation,  but 
under  limitation  of  different  kinds.  Subject  always  to  such 
limitation,  faithfully  observed,  all  are  responsible  for  helping 
their  students  past  the  danger  of  permanent  skepticism,  of 
mere  absence  of  confidence  and  conviction  ;  and  toward  such 
faith  as  shall  give  to  each  his  best  hold  on  hope  and  love 
and  righteousness. 

So  we  may  say  in  general :  The  demand  that  is  growing 
into  some  sort  of  dominance  in  the  concerns  of  private 
schools  and  public  schools  alike,  is  the  demand  that  instruc- 
tion shall  strike  the  note  of  reality ;  that  it  shall  find  the 
real  pupil  and  give  him  instruction  that  he  can  lay  hold  of 


454          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

without  pretence  and  without  precocity.  Ked  blood  is  going 
to  school,  and  the  school  is  interested  in  things  that  send 
red  blood  bounding  to  young  muscles  and  young  brains 

And  what  will  be  the  result  to  American  scholarship  ? 
Perhaps  it  will  be  this :  That  teachers  who  also  have  red 
blood  will  make  more  insistent  demand  for  real  scholarship, 
and  will  get  what  they  demand.  The  need  of  improvement 
at  this  point  is  urgent  and  should  not  be  discounted.  But 
one  word  should  be  added  :  We  must  be  willing  to  stop  short 
of  the  highest  possible  scholarship  in  our  American  schools, 
if  that  last  finish  of  scholarly  excellence  cost  never  so  little 
of  the  real  vigor  of  American  life.  The  life  is  more  than 
learning. 

We  have  been  considering  thus  far  the  secondary  school 
in  the  light  of  the  doctrine  that  the  school  is  life.  Some  of 
the  most  significant  and  far-reaching  consequences  of  that 
doctrine  have  not  been  touched ;  but  we  hasten  on  to  another 
view,  which  has  been  foreshadowed,  and  is  not  altogether  an- 
other. Our  adolescent  student  is  continually  reaching  out 
after  larger  conceptions  of  duty  and  opportunity.  With  him, 
one  wave  of  subjective  egoism  is  succeeded  by  a  wave  of 
devotion  to  larger  human  interests.  He  may  be  as  much  an 
egoist  as  ever  when  he  contemplates  the  glory  of  self-sacri- 
fice for  the  good  of  one's  fellowmen,  but  his  egoism  is  then 
finding  its  own  corrective.  In  like  manner  we  turn  now  to 
the  broad  question  of  the  relation  of  secondary  education  to 
public  interests,  but  with  no  sense  of  breaking  with  the 
doctrine  we  have  been  considering 

o 

One  of  the  most  notable  of  recent  writers  on  secondary 
education  is  the  French  sociologist  and  philosopher,  M. 
Alfred  Fouillde.  Within  the  past  three  years  he  has  made 
important  contributions  to  the  current  discussion  of  the 
reform  of  secondary  education  in  France.  But  his  general 
position  was  set  forth  with  great  clearness,  ten  or  twelve 
years  ago,  in  his  book  entitled  Education  from  a  national 
standpoint.  This  work  deals  with  the  schools  of  France. 


THE   OUTLOOK  455 

We  need  a  full  discussion  of  American  education  from  a 
national  standpoint,  or  rather  from  the  public  standpoint, 
which  includes  the  national.  Doubtless  some  one  will  give 
us  such  a  work  in  due  time.  But  in  these  last  pages  let  us 
glance  briefly  at  some  current  tendencies  as  seen  from  the 
standpoint  of  public  interests. 

The  spirit  of  democracy  is  abroad  in  modern  societies, 
whatever  their  form  of  government.  Kightly  understood,  it 
is  one  of  the  choicest  possessions  of  our  modern  civilization. 
So  one  of  the  most  searching  tests  of  any  educational  ten- 
dency is  its  bearing  upon  essential  democracy. 

By  essential  democracy  we  may  understand  the  spirit 
which  values  men  according  to  their  manhood.  It  is  the 
spirit  which  judges  of  men  on  the  ground  of  inherent  worth, 
and  not  on  the  ground  of  such  fortuitous  attributes  as  birth 
or  wealth  or  mere  reputation.  Democracy  surely  recognizes 
differences  among  men.  It  sees  that  some  must  lead  and 
some  must  follow.  Its  peculiarity  is  that  it  seeks  by  all 
means  to  devolve  leadership  on  him  who  is  fittest  to  lead. 

More  than  this,  true  democracy  recognizes  in  men  a  diver- 
sity of  gifts,  such  that  each  man  is  destined  to  lead  in  some 
tilings  and  to  follow  in  others,  to  lead  in  some  relations  in  life 
and  to  follow  in  other  relations.  That  is,  to  lead  wisely  and  to 
follow  wisely  are  the  correlated  duties  of  every  man  in  a 
democratic  society.  Democracy  in  the  long  run  puts  the 
highest  price  on  pre-eminence  in  each  of  the  several  walks  of 
life.  It  puts  a  price  on  pre-eminence  of  every  sort,  and 
teaches  every  man  to  respect  the  different  capacities  of  other 
men.  The  question,  then,  to  put  to  our  institutions  of  second- 
ary education  is  this :  Do  they  help  every  student  to  find 
himself  and  his  fellowmen  ?  For  a  portion  of  its  students, 
secondary  education  may  share  this  responsibility  with  the 
education  of  the  higher  schools.  But  the  responsibility  falls 
upon  the  secondary  school  in  a  peculiar  way,  for  the  reason 
that  this  grade  of  instruction  deals  with  a  stage  of  develop- 
ment in  which  the  student  is  for  the  first  time,  as  it  were, 
in  possession  of  his  complete  equipment  of  instincts,  powers, 


456          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

and  passions,  and  is,  accordingly,  for  the  first  time  fairly  face 
to  face  with  his  destiny. 

1.  Now  let  us  attempt  to  trace  some  bearings  of  this  view 
upon  current  tendencies  in  our  secondary  education.  In  the 
first  place,  what  are  secondary  schools  doing,  and  what  can 
they  do,  to  maintain  and  advance  the  spirit  of  true  democ- 
racy ?  I  do  not  see  that  this  question  has  much  to  do  with 
the  question  of  social  "  sets  "  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  It 
is  rather  a  question  whether  the  youth  in  our  schools  are 
learning  to  value  human  worth  for  what  it  is,  and  not  for 
what  it  has,  and  are  learning  that  they  are  responsible,  each 
for  a  social  service  peculiarly  his  own.  Diversity  of  educa- 
tion is  not  necessarily  a  bar  to  such  instruction ;  but  every 
sort  of  educational  snobbishness  is  its  deadly  enemy. 

In  the  main,  we  may  safely  assume  that  public  high 
schools  are  democratic  in  tone,  and  serve  to  reinforce  the 
democratic  spirit  in  our  society.  But  we  must  not  carry 
this  assumption  too  far.  There  is  need,  even  in  public 
schools,  to  guard  against  the  subtle  danger  of  valuing  men 
for  something  other  than  what  they  are.  It  would  be  a 
very  great  mistake,  too,  to  assume  that  the  tendency  of 
private  schools  is  mainly  or  even  largely  undemocratic.  It 
would  not  appear  that  such  is  the  case.  A  large  and  well- 
established  boarding  school  certainly  has  a  democracy  of  its 
own,  which  imposes  a  wholesome  check  on  some  forms  of 
exclusiveness. 

There  is  constant  need,  however,  to  guard  in  private 
schools,  and  in  all  schools  for  that  matter,  against  the  danger 
of  artificial  standards.  Especially  do  the  teachers  of  private 
schools  which  have  a  reputation  for  exclusiveness  need  to 
guard  their  students  against  this  danger.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  many  such  teachers  are  faithful  to  a  high  degree 
in  this  matter.  And  the  reward  of  their  faithfulness  is 
this :  The  knowledge  that  they  are  not  only  promoting  the 
moral  uplift  of  their  own  students,  but  are  also  serving 
important  public  ends.  I  believe  there  are  families  whose 
only  hope  of  getting  a  breath  of  real  American  democratic 


THE  OUTLOOK  457 

air  is  in  the  training  the  youth  of  those  families  get  in 
schools  that  educate. 

2.  M.  Fouiltee,  in  the  work  referred  to,  contended  that 
the  "  selection  of  superiorities  "  is  one  chief  form  of  service 
which  the  school  must  render  the  state.  The  saying  may 
be  accepted  with  all  heartiness.  Just  because  democracy 
is  so  easily  perverted  into  a  system  of  "  levelling  down,"  the 
schools  need  by  all  means  to  keep  faith  with  its  true  spirit, 
and  seek  for  latent  leadership  as  for  hid  treasure.  As  our 
schools  grow  in  numbers,  it  becomes  increasingly  difficult  to 
give  special  stimulus  to  those  of  more  than  ordinary  endow- 
ment, that  they  may  make  the  most  of  the  gift  that  is  in 
them.  The  chief  gain  that  we  are  making  in  this  respect  is 
not  seen  in  any  improvement  in  system,  but  rather  in  the 
more  general  employment  in  the  schools  of  teachers  of 
thorough  preparation,  who  are  capable  of  making  their  in- 
struction generally  stimulating. 

But  democracy  does  more  than  demand  that  the  schools 
shall  find  and  develop  natural  leaders.  It  demands  that 
the  schools  shall  find  and  develop  in  each  pupil  his  peculiar 
side  of  leadership.  This  is  even  more  difficult  than  the 
other.  Here,  again,  the  growth  of  our  schools  is  a  hindrance 
to  their  efficiency.  Here  comes  in  new  emphasis  on  the 
responsibility  of  the  principals  of  schools.  Here,  too,  we 
find  some  of  the  good  effects  of  the  movement  toward  the 
freer  election  of  studies.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the 
middle-school  course  be  so  arranged  that  at  the  close  of 
each  two-year  period  the  student  shall  be  allowed  to  make 
a  new  election,  but  that  within  this  period  his  course  shall 
be  relatively  unchangeable.  There  seems  to  be  wisdom  in 
this  recommendation.  It  amounts  to  this,  that  at  a  given 
time  a  two-year  course  be  mapped  out  in  accordance  with 
the  best  knowledge  then  available  as  to  the  student's  quality 
and  capability,  that  he  be  kept  at  this  course  long  enough 
to  show  whether  the  choice  was  a  good  one  for  him  or  not, 
and  that  at  the  end  of  this  period  choice  be  made  for  the 
ensuing  two  years  in  the  light  of  the  experience  of  the  past. 


458          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

This  would  make  the  course  of  training  a  continued  trial  of 
the  student's  quality  with  a  view  to  finding  his  best.  And 
that,  indeed,  is  what  every  secondary  course  should  be.  By 
some  such  means  we  might  save  many  misfits  in  life,  with- 
out running  into  those  endless  term-to-term  readjustments 
which  only  render  a  course  of  instruction  jerky  and  gener- 
ally hysterical.  It  is  something  like  this  that  the  Germans 
are  trying  to  do  under  the  Frankfort  plan,  but  that  plan 
provides  for  three-year  periods  instead  of  two.  The  fact 
that  this  tendency  is  international  emphasizes  its  importance. 
It  is,  in  truth,  the  current  form  of  the  demand  that  sec- 
ondary education  shall  help  the  student  to  find  himself. 
The  demand  has  come  from  the  psychological  side  of  educa- 
tion. It  comes  now  from  the  national  side. 

Such  a  system  as  this  could  be  made  much  more  effective 
in  a  six-year  or  an  eight-year  high  school  than  in  our  four- 
year  schools.  The  tendency  toward  an  extension  of  the 
secondary  course  upward  and  downward  can  barely  be 
referred  to  here.  It  is  as  yet  more  a  tendency  of  thought 
than  of  practice.  Yet  we  see  some  signs  of  its  finding  its 
way  down  to  the  ground.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  we  shall 
have,  side  by  side  with  our  present  system,  numerous  ex- 
periments with  secondary  schools  which  take  in  the  last 
year  or  two  of  the  present  elementary  course,  and  with  the 
same  or  other  schools  so  organized  as  to  cover  the  first  two 
years  of  the  present  college  course.  It  is  very  desirable 
that  such  experiments  be  made.  In  the  making  of  such 
experiments,  it  would  seem  possible  for  private  schools  to 
render  one  more  important  service  to  our  secondary  educa- 
tion. And  we  can  be  content  to  let  the  matter  work  itself 
out  under  the  wisdom  taught  by  experience. 

But  there  is  another  tendency  of  large  significance,  which 
has  to  do  with  the  effort  to  find  for  every  citizen  his  place 
of  most  effective  service.  That  is  the  movement  which  is 
giving  us  vocational  schools  of  secondary  grade. 

We  seem  to  be  coming  to  a  more  general  and  insistent 
demand  that  men  shall  have  training  for  their  work  in  life. 


THE  OUTLOOK  459 

Since  the  breaking  down  of  the  old  order  of  trade  gilds  and 
apprenticeship,  the  need  of  regular  training  has  long  been 
obscured.  There  is  an  American  notion  of  long  standing 
which  has  added  to  this  obscurity  —  the  notion  that  special 
training  for  any  particular  service  is  a  reflection  on  the 
brightness  of  the  person  trained.  If  he  had  gumption,  he 
would  be  able  to  do  his  work  without  having  to  learn  how 
to  do  it.  This  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the  colonial 
view,  but  it  grew  up  rather  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  This  crude  conceit  is  now  passing  away. 
Training  of  the  highest  sort  is  provided  in  the  professions, 
particularly  in  medicine.  Teaching  still  lags  in  this  respect, 
but  is  trying  to  catch  up.  The  several  forms  of  engineering 
are  already  firmly  placed  on  the  platform  of  technical  train- 
ing. As  regards  the  trades,  progress  has  been  slow,  but 
progress  has  surely  been  making.  The  idea  of  specific  train- 
ing has  reappeared,  but  in  a  different  world  from  that  of  the 
trade  gilds  with  their  system  of  apprenticeship.  It  is  a  world 
of  schools.  When  this  age  undertakes  to  rebuild  the  old 
mediaeval  conception  that  each  man  shall  be  master  of  his 
own  craft,  it  will  do  it  through  a  system  of  trade  schools. 
In  fact,  this  seems  to  be  what  we  are  coming  to  —  a  view  of 
public  education  which  plans  to  make  tlie  schooling  of  every 
pupil  culminate  in  training  for  some  occupation  in  life.  We 
shall  say  to  our  youth :  "  You  have  left  school  before  school 
is  out  if  you  have  not  begun  to  learn  in  school  to  do  your 
daily  work." 

Vocational  training  is  to  be  postponed  as  long  as  possible. 
It  is  to  rest  upon  the  most  extended  general  schooling  which 
the  individual  can  get.  And  each  of  these  types  of  educa- 
tion is  to  shade  off  into  the  other ;  each  is  to  reinforce  the 
other.  The  ideal  of  useful  occupation  will  ennoble  the  more 
general  instruction  of  the  lower  schools,  and  the  ideals  of 
liberal  education  will  ennoble  the  school  of  trades.  The 
future  artisan  will  be  encouraged  to  be  as  much  of  an  artist 
as  he  can  be.  All  this  may  seem  but  a  dream.  And  some 
.of  it  may  be  only  what  Euskin  or  William  Morris  dreamed 


460 


THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


quite  half  a  century  ago.  Yet  it  may  not  be  the  worse  for 
that,  and  in  any  case  it  may  stand  till  something  better  is 
proposed.1 

The  movement  toward  vocational  training,  however  it 
may  be  organized,  is  already  upon  us,  and  it  seems  reason- 
able to  believe  that  the  enormous  expansion  of  high-school 
attendance  in  this  country  of  late,  with  the  attendant  effort 
of  the  schools  to  meet  the  needs  of  all,  is  in  part  a  gathering 
up  of  the  forces  of  our  American  youth  preparatory  to  a 
more  general  mastery  of  the  daily  business  of  life.  How 
far  the  specific  training  for  distinct  occupations  should  be 
given  in  schools  under  public  control  is,  however,  a  ques- 
tion unsettled  as  yet.  The  full  co-operation  of  schools  of 
many  sorts  will  be  needed  :  of  that  we  may  be  sure.  The 

1  The  national  system  of  education  here  contemplated  may  be  roughly  in- 
dicated by  the  following  diagram,  in  which  the  upright  central  trunk  repre- 
sents provision  for  general  culture,  "  training  for  citizen- 
ship," or  whatever  such  education  of  a  universal  sort 
may  be  called  ;  while  the  branches  represent  specific 
training  for  some  occupation  in  life.  The  part  xa  of 
this  tree  of  knowledge  may  stand  for  the  training  of  the 
home  and  kindergarten,  up  to  about  the  age  of  six  :  the 
part  a  b,  for  the  elementary  school,  six  or  eight  years  iu 
length.  The  lowest  grade  of  vocational  training  ought 
surely  not  to  begin  till  a  good  elementary  education  of  a 
general  sort  has  been  secured.  But  after  that  many 
pupils  can  continue  their  schooling  only  long  enough  to 
make  some  start  toward  an  occupation  in  life  in  some 
trade  school,  as  &/or  b  g.  The  courses  in  these  schools 
will  be  of  varying  length.  But  this  scheme  proposes  as 
the  standard  minimum  for  those  whose  school  life  must 
be  brief,  the  whole  elementary  course,  a  b,  and  a  substan- 
tial extension,  two  years  at  least  in  length,  along  one  of 
the  lines  of  vocational  training  branching  off  at  the 
point  b. 

The  part  b  c  will  represent  the  general  culture  of  the 
secondary  school,  which,  under  various  arrangements, 

i  en  Cigllt  yearS  in  len«th'    In  a  hiShlv  developed  system, 

probably  the  close  of  each  two-year  period  in  this  course  would  become  a  node 
Q  which  vocational  schools  of  various  sorts  would  arise.     In  the  diagram, 
schools  c  h,  c  ^,  are  represented  as  branching  off  from  the  end  of  the 
idary-school  period.     In  our  present  educational  organization,  the  higher 


S1' 


THE  OUTLOOK  461 

growth  of  secondary  schools  of  a  technical  and  commercial 
sort  is,  in  fact,  bringing  with  it  a  whole  new  set  of  problems. 
We  cannot  consider  them  here.  Within  the  next  few  years 
the  discussion  of  them  will  very  likely  fill  a  large  place  in 
our  educational  literature. 

Three  principles  which  have  been  roughly  blocked  out 
in  this  chapter  may  now  be  recapitulated  side  by  side  : 
First,  the  general  culture  of  secondary  grade  which  is  needed 
for  life,  is  practically  identical  with  that  which  best  fits  for 
the  higher  education.  Secondly,  the  colleges  will  serve  the 
real  interests  of  higher  education  by  such  entrance  tests 
and  requirements  as  will  best  promote  the  general,  educa- 
tional efficiency  of  the  secondary  schools.  Thirdly,  the 
schooling  of  each  individual  should  be  carried  as  far  on  the 
lines  of  general  culture  as  his  circumstances  will  permit  — 
but  in  any  normal  case  to  the  end  of  the  elementary-school 
course,  and  in  no  case  to  the  extreme  of  lifelong  dilettante- 
ism  ;  —  and  should  then  be  rounded  out  with  specific  prep- 
aration for  some  worthy  occupation  in  life.  I  take  it  that 
these  are  principles  which  will  influence  our  secondary  edu- 
cation within  the  next  few  years.  No  one  of  them  can  be 
accepted  as  a  finality.  They  are  working  hypotheses,  sub- 
ject to  correction  as  we  go  along. 

3.  Our  secondary  education,  then,  is   meeting   a   public 

schools  of  technology;  the  technical  colleges  of  our  universities;  such  schools 
of  the  learned  professions  as  require  no  further  preparatory  study  than  that 
offered  by  the  high  schools  ;  and  our  better  normal  schools,  which  also  rest 
upon  the  high-school  course,  are  all  represented  by  these  slanting  lines,  c  h 
and  c  i. 

The  part  c  d  will  stand  for  the  "  culture  courses  "  of  the  college  or  univer- 
sity, ordinarily  four  years  in  length,  which  may  in  time  be  shortened.  The 
slanting  lines,  d  j,  d  k,  will  then  represent  graduate  professional  schools,  like 
the  present  medical  courses  of  Harvard  and  Johns  Hopkins  Universities  ;  and 
d  e  may  stand  for  the  graduate  studies  leading  to  the  doctorate  in  Philosophy. 
The  distinction  between  technical  and  cultural  studies,  at  no  point  absolute, 
becomes  more  obscured  in  the  higher  stages  of  education,  where  the  studies  of 
the  central  trunk  become  more  and  more  specialised,  and  in  the  end  are  them- 
selves, in  a  way,  professional.  The  diagram  disregards  this  fact,  and  calls 
attention  particularly  to  the  relation  of  vocational  to  general  training  in  the 
organization  of  schools,  and  in  the  course  of  education  of  each  individual. 


462          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

need  in  the  promotion  of  real  democracy,  and  in  helping 
individuals  to  find  their  field  of  most  effective  service.  In 
the  third  place  it  is  meeting  a  public  need  in  the  largest 
sense  by  promoting  a  wholesome  civic  spirit.  Those  who 
are  experimenting  with  schemes  of  self-government  in  high 
schools  are  aiming,  among  other  things,  to  create  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  municipal  affairs.  The  study  of  American 
history  and  civil  government  is  taking  a  larger  place  in  the 
high-school  curriculum.  The  neglect  of  these  subjects  in 
the  past  has  been  one  of  the  most  striking  anomalies  in  our 
courses  of  instruction.  American  literature  is  also  receiving 
ample  attention  in  both  elementary  and  secondary  schools. 

The  emphasis  thus  laid  on  the  national  spirit  in  our 
schools  is  not  peculiar  to  this  country.  It  is  characteristic 
of  our  time.  The  tendency  which  it  represents  calls  for 
strong  approval.  I  trust  I  shall  not  be  misunderstood  when 
I  add  that  local  or  even  national  spirit  cannot  be  regarded 
as  the  final  and  absolute  end  of  our  education.  We  are 
living  in  an  age  when  nationality  is  seen  as  the  ultimate 
object  of  patriotism.  But  that  age  is  passing.  The  strenu- 
ous effort  of  the  German  emperor  to  make  the  German 
Gymnasium  more  intensely  national  is  only  one  indication 
of  this  fact.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  we  are  moving 
toward  a  time  when  our  country  will  be  the  world,  and 
patriotism  will  mean  devotion  to  the  interests  of  niankind. 
The  growing  importance  of  international  law,  the  advance 
of  international  co-operation,  the  gradual  unification  of  the 
ideals  of  civilization,  and  a  hundred  other  indications  point 
in  this  direction. 

It  is  no  Utopian  view  that  is  here  presented.  The  progress 
referred  to  is  slow;  but  it  has  been  mightily  accelerated 
within  the  memory  of  living  men.  The  time  to  live  and 
die  for  one's  country  is  not  past;  it  will  not  pass  in  our 
day;  but  just  as  surely  as  in  times  gone  by  the  voice  of 
patriotism  has  called  men  to  fight  for  their  nation  as  opposed 
to  a  rebellious  section,  just  so  surely  a  time  will  come  when 
the  voice  of  patriotism  will  call  men  to  fight  for  humanity 


THE  OUTLOOK  463 

as  opposed  to  any  nation  that  rebels  against  the  general 
interests  of  humanity.  Our  highest  aspiration  for  our 
country  is  not  that  it  shall  overcome  others  —  that  it  shall 
make  itself  the  biggest  nation  among  a  crowd  of  envious 
lesser  nations  —  but  rather  that  it  shall  contribute  most  to 
the  realization  of  that  higher  "  federation  of  the  world." 

So  the  tendency  of  our  secondary  education  which  will  in 
the  end  promote  the  truest  patriotism,  is  the  tendency  to 
look  to  the  highest  good  of  all  mankind.  This  is  only 
another  way  of  saying  that  as  our  schools  grow  more 
national  they  should  also  grow  more  truly  humanistic. 
The  older  humanism  was  devotion  to  an  ideal,  to  be  sure, 
but  an  abstract  ideal.  The  newer  humanism  of  the  schools 
cannot  well  dispense  with  the  best  that  the  older  humanism 
had  to  offer.  But  it  will  cease  to  be  abstract.  It  will  call 
forth  a  spirit  of  devotion,  not  to  an  ideal  republic  of  the 
past,  but  to  the  commonwealth  of  the  present  and  the 
greater  commonwealth  of  the  future. 

The  youth  in  our  secondary  schools  are  ready  to  be  swayed 
toward  either  intense  selfishness  or  the  most  generous  self- 
devotion.  The  best  that  the  schools  can  do  to  guard  them 
against  self-centred  commercialism,  is  to  awaken  their  en- 
thusiasm for  some  ideal  good,  which  has  power  of  appeal  to 
the  imagination.  Literature  and  history  can  make  such 
appeal,  by  awakening  the  sentiment  of  patriotism.  And 
they  will  make  this  appeal  at  its  best  when  they  give  our 
youth  some  glimpses  of  the  larger  patriotism,  of  the  universal 
good,  which  we  hope  to  see  our  country  serving  in  the  days 
that  are  to  come,  as  no  nation  has  served  it  since  the  nations 
began  to  be. 

So  we  may  look  to  see  humanism  as  dominant  in  the 
schools  of  the  twentieth  century  as  it  was  in  those  of  the 
sixteenth ;  but  a  new  humanism,  leaning  more  and  more  on 
science,  mindful  of  the  past,  patriotic  in  the  present,  and 
looking  hopefully  forward  to  the  larger  human  interests 
that  have  already  begun  to  be. 

But  the  subject  is  a  large  one,  and  many  aspects  of  it 


464          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

which  will  appear  to  some  of  paramount  importance,  must 
be  passed  without  discussion  or  even  without  mention. 
Stress  has  been  laid  on  some  of  the  chief  tendencies,  already 
observable,  which  offer  good  hope  for  the  future.  Broadly 
speaking,  the  dominant  movements  may  be  seen  in  the 
effort  to  put  life,  real  life,  fulness  of  life,  into  the  school ; 
and  in  the  effort  to  make  the  school  minister  in  the  largest 
sense  to  the  public  good.  These  efforts  tend,  for  one  thing, 
toward  greater  flexibility  in  our  courses  of  study,  but  also 
toward  something  more  than  flexibility.  Our  boys  and 
girls  belong  to  the  highest  form  of  life,  and  it  is  a  vertebrate 
course  of  study  that  they  require. 

These  efforts  tend  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  making 
and  discovering  real  teachers.  President  Benjamin  Ide 
Wheeler  has  said,  "I  am  convinced  that  teachers  are  not 
exclusively  born."  We  jiave  only  to  add  that  teachers,  both 
born  and  made,  must  needs  be  discovered. 

They  tend  further  toward  co-operation  and  division  of 
labor  between  public  and  private  secondary  schools,  in 
meeting  somewhat  of  the  religious  need  of  adolescents ;  and 
in  promoting  that  sort  of  democracy  which  knows  that 

"  A  man 's  a  man  for  a'  that." 

They  tend  toward  the  practical  recognition  of  the  doctrine, 
to  every  man  his  work  and  preparation  to  do  his  work. 

They  tend  toward  nationalism  which  is  not  so  much  the 
nationalism  of  "  My  country,  right  or  wrong,"  as  the  national- 
ism of  "  My  country  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  world." 

The  consideration  of  tendencies  in  secondary  education 
just  now  brings  us  near  to  the  very  heart  of  our  civilization. 
For  the  past  ten  or  twelve  years  we  have  seen  middle- 
school  problems  occupying  a  central  place  in  the  thought  of 
the  great  culture  nations.  We  have  had  a  decade  or  more  of 
middle-school  reforms.  The  great  milestones  in  the  prog- 
ress of  these  reforms  have  been  the  December  Conference  at 
Berlin  in  1890,  and  the  revision  of  the  Prussian  curriculums 
which  followed ;  the  report  of  our  own  Committee  of  Ten  in 


THE  OUTLOOK  465 

893 ;  the  report  of  the  English  Parliamentary  Commission 
n  Secondary  Education  in  1895,  and  the  establishment  of 
'the  English  Board  of  Education  to  give  effect  to  recommen- 
jdations  which  this  commission  presented ;  the  report  of 
ithe  Committee  on  College-Entrance  Requirements,  of  our 
National  Educational  Association  in  1899 ;  the  report,  in 
1899  and  1900,  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the  French 
Chamber  of  Deputies ;  the  Brunswick  Declaration  and  the 
Kiel  decree,  of  1QOO;  the  establishment  of  the  College  En- 
trance Examination  Board  and  the  Commission  on  Accred- 
ited Schools  in  the  year  just  past.  It  is  a  most  remarkable 
record,  and  warrants  the  belief  that  we  have  just  been  pass- 
ing through  one  of  the  greatest  formative  epochs  in  the 
history  of  secondary  schools.  Tn  America  it  has  been,  not 
a  time  of  crisis,  as  in  the  nations  of  Europe,  but  rather  a 
time  of  unparalleled  progress.  In  1889-90  less  than  three- 
fifths  of  one  per  cent  of  our  population  was  enrolled  in 
our  secondary  schools ;  in  1899-1900  nineteen-twentieths 
of  one  per  cent  was  so  enrolled,  and  in  eighteen  states 
this  proportion  was  more  than  one  per  cent.  If  the  figures 
at  hand  are  correct,  this  is  by  far  the  largest  proportion  of 
any  great  people  to  be  found  pursuing  studies  of  this  grade, 
Prussia  showing  a  little  less  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent 
and  France  a  trifle  less  than  Prussia. 

It  is  the  public  high  schools  that  have  done  it.  While 
the  percentage  of  the  population  in  private  schools  increased 
in  the  decade  from  0.23  to  0.25,  the  percentage  in  the  high 
schools  increased  in  the  same  period  from  0.36  to  0.70.  It 
is  evident  that  the  high  school  has  come  to  be  an  immensely 
significant  factor  in  our  American  life :  raising  our  standard 
of  living  ;  giving  currency  to  higher  ideas  and  ideals ;  sending 
great  numbers  of  our  young  people  on  to  the  universities  and 
so  accentuating  in  our  age  the  character  of  a  university  age ; 
increasing  the  range  of  selection  in  all  occupations  calling 
for  the  intermediate  and  higher  grades  of  intelligence ;  and 
forcing  the  wider  differentiation  of  our  curriculums  by  the 
very  immensity  and  variety  of  the  demands  for  instruction 
which  must  be  satisfied. 

30 


466          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

It  becomes  in  an  important  sense  the  mission  of  our 
secondary  schools  to  help  our  people  of  all  social  and  indus- 
trial grades  and  classes  to  understand  one  another,  for 
they  help  the  schools  of  all  kinds  and  grades  to  understand 
one  another.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  public  high 
school,  which  lays  its  hand  directly  upon  both  the  primary 
school  and  the  university. 

It  is  a  great  thing,  this  promoting  of  a  good  understand- 
ing between  all  classes  of  our  citizens.  There  will  be  times 
of  crisis  when  it  will  be  a  paramount  concern  in  our  national 
life.  We  can  view  with  patience  even  the  bungling  work 
occasionally  done  by  politically  minded  school  boards  in 
dealing  with  our  high  schools,  when  we  realize  that  in  just 
this  way  our  demos,  of  which  we  are  all  a  part,  is  working 
toward  an  understanding  of  an  institution  which  in  many 
lands  the  demos  neither  tries  nor  cares  to  understand.  Even 
through  temporary  mismanagement  of  our  higher  educa- 
tional institutions  our  people  are  coming  to  understand  one 
another,  and  through  better  management  they  are  coming 
to  a  better  understanding. 

It  takes  wisdom  and  patience  and  poise  and  unbounded 
good-will  to  discharge  the  responsibilities  of  an  intermediary 
position  such  as  is  occupied  by  our  middle  schools.  But 
if  such  graces  shall  abound  in  the  teachers  and  managers 
of  the  schools,  these  will  deserve  well  of  their  country ; 
and  even  though  we  are  a  democracy,  we  shall  not  be  wholly 
ungrateful. 


APPENDIX   A 

STATISTICS  OF  SECONDARY   SCHOOLS 

(From  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the  Year 
1899-1900.) 

THE  total  number  of  secondary  students  in  institutions  of  all 
classes  reporting  to  this  Office  for  the  scholastic  year  ending  June, 
1900,  was  719,241,  or  more  than  4  per  cent  of  the  aggregate  enroll- 
ment in  all  the  schools  and  colleges  of  the  United  States  which  was 
17,020,710.  There  was  a  gain  of  64,014,  or  nearly  10  per  cent, 
over  the  preceding  year  in  the  number  of  secondary  students 
enrolled.  The  secondary  students  enumerated  were  distributed 
among  eight  classes  of  institutions  as  follows : 


Institution*. 

M»le. 

Female. 

ToUl. 

Public  high  schools      .               .          .     .     • 

216  207 

303044 

619,261 

1'ublic  normal  schools      
1'iililic  universities  ami  colleges    

1,049 
6132 

1,906 
2087 

2,966 
8219 

Private  high  schools    .     .          .               .     .     • 

66734 

66003 

110797 

3,817 

2798 

6616 

Private  universities  and  colleges  

28682 

19,384 

48066 

Private  colleges  for  women  .         .     . 

13817 

13817 

Manual  training  schools       .         •    .    •    • 

6688 

3933 

9521 

Total            .                      

317209 

402032 

719241 

The  enrollment  of  secondary  students  for  the  year  1899-1900 
was  almost  1  per  cent  of  the  total  population,  or  9,460  in  every 
million  of  population.  The  number  reported  as  enrolled  is  some- 
thing less  than  the  actual  number  of  secondary  students  in  the 
United  States.  In  localities  in  most  of  the  States  where  high 
schools  are  not  accessible  there  are  many  students  pursuing  sec- 


468          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


bndary  studies  under  the  direction  of  teachers  of  the  elementary 
schools.  The  91,549  students  in  commercial  schools  are  not  here 
included. 

Since  1890  the  rate  of  increase  of  secondary  students  has  been 
more  rapid  than  the  rate  of  increase  in  population.  The  number 
of  secondary  students  in  private  institutions  has  about  kept  pace 
with  the  growth  of  population  from  year  to  year,  while  the  num- 
ber of  such  students  in  public  institutions  has  increased  from 
about  3,600  to  the  million  in  1890  to  over  7,000  to  the  million  in 
1900.  The  following  table  shows  the  remarkable  growth  in  the 
number  of  secondary  students  in  the  past  ten  years  : 

Secondary  students  and  per  cent  of  population. 


In  public  institu- 
tions. 

In  private  institu- 
tions. 

In  both  classes. 

Year. 

Secondary 
students. 

Per  cent 
of  popu- 
lation. 

Secondary 
students. 

Per  cent 
of  popu- 
lation. 

Secondary 
students. 

Per  cent 
of  popu- 
lation. 

1889-90  . 

221,522 

0.36 

145,481 

0.23 

367,003 

0.59 

1890-91  . 

222,868 

.35 

147,567 

.23 

370,435 

.58 

1891-92  . 

247,660 

.38 

154,429 

.24 

402,089 

.62 

1892-93  . 

256,628 

.39 

153,792 

.23 

410,420 

.62 

1893-94  . 

302,006 

.45 

178,352 

.26 

480,358 

.71 

1894-95  . 

361,370 

.63 

178,342 

.26 

539,712 

.79 

1895-96  . 

392,729 

.56 

166,274 

.23 

559,003 

.79 

1896-97  . 

420,459 

.59 

164,445 

.23 

584,904 

.82 

1897-98  . 

459,813 

.63 

166,302 

.23 

626,115 

.86 

1898-99  . 

488,649 

.66 

166,678 

.23 

655,227 

.89 

1899-1900 

530,425 

.70 

188,816 

.25 

719,241 

.95 

It  has  been  found  impracticable  to  collect  complete  statistics  of 
secondary  students  in  the  preparatory  departments  of  colleges  and 
other  institutions,  sucli  as  the  number  of  students  pursuing  certain 
studies,  and  certain  other  details.  For  this  reason  this  chapter  is 
devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the  statistics  of  the  6,005  public  high 
schools  and  the  1,978  private  high  schools,  academies,  and  semi- 
naries reporting  directly  to  this  Bureau  for  the  year  1899-1900. 
The,  following  table  shows  the  remarkable  growth  of  public  and 
private  high  schools  since  1889-90  : 


APPENDIX  A 


469 


C*  'X  Co  cc  cv  71 


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•*  Ji 


LSiSISnpS 

rrfrferf^wigWg 


;??7 


* 

£ 


Per  cen 
of  t 


!i 

So 

i 


—  -r  —  —  r  1  1 


470 


THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


DENOMINATIONAL  SCHOOLS. 

Of  the  1,978  private  secondary  schools  reported,  945  are  con- 
trolled by  religious  denominations.  In  these  denominational 
schools  there  were  5,074  instructors  and  53,624  secondary  stu- 
dents, as  against  5,043  instructors  and  57,173  students  in  the 
1,033  nonsectarian  schools.  In  Table  43,  which  gives  in  detail 
the  statistics  of  private  secondary  schools,  the  name  of  the  re- 
ligious denomination  controlling  each  school  is  given  in  column 
4.  Tables  28  and  29  show  the  number  of  schools  in  each  State 
controlled  by  each  religious  denomination.  The  following  synop- 
sis is  made  from  these  tables  : 


Religious  denomination  and  nonsectarian. 

SchoolB. 

Instruc- 
tors. 

Stu- 
dents. 

Nonsectarian      

1,033 

5043 

57,173 

Roman  Catholic                    ...              .     . 

361 

1  910 

15872 

98 

714 

5,146 

Baptist  ....         .     .         .         .... 

96 

529 

7173 

93 

402 

4,574 

Methodist  

65 

324 

5522 

Friends      

55 

296 

3428 

51 

242 

2,671 

Methodist  Episcopal  South 

38 

154 

2,863 

Lutheran 

32 

175 

2032 

Other  denominations  

56 

328 

4,344 

Total  

1,978 

10117 

110,797 

APPENDIX  A 


471 


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I! 


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ss 


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:l 


|  | 

£"i  si      "i 


472 


THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


S3S 


£    SS     8 


§8 


rig  j^^SM^^a^al^s^ 


82 


rig  **** 


s  -s 
u  -ss 


i-iQ       W  •*  0  (N  <N  10  CO     .  ^  0 
rl  «         T»«         rHi-H  lO  C^  <N  1-1 


S3 
SS 


ci      od 


SB'S 


od     o 


s§  8^£3s  •  -as 


3     § 
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s  • 

o   . 


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APPENDIX  B 

RECENT   SCHOOL  CUEKICULUMS 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS  OF 
THE  BOROUGHS  OF  MANHATTAN  AND  THE 
BRONX,  NEW  YORK,  1901 

EXPLANATORY  NOTES 

Drawing,  one  period  a  week  the  first  and  third  years,  and  two 
periods  a  week  the  second  and  fourth  years,  is  prescribed  for  pupils 
in  the  Commercial  Course,  and  for  those  preparing  for  higher  insti- 
tutions that  require  drawing  for  admission.  It  is  optional  for  others. 

Music,  one  period  a  week,  is  prescribed  for  pupils  who  purpose 
to  become  teachers ;  others  may  elect  music  or  elocution. 

Physical  training,  two  periods  a  week,  is  prescribed  for  all 
pupils  ;  but  half  the  time  allotted  to  physical  training  in  the  third 
and  fourth  years  may  be  given  to  elocution. 

One  of  the  periods  in  physics  is  to  be  given  to  exercises  for 
which  no  special  preparation  has  been  made  by  the  pupil. 

No  new  class  in  an  elective  subject  shall  be  formed  for  less  than 
forty  (40)  pupils  in  the  first  year,  thirty  (30)  pupils  in  the  second 
year,  twenty-five  (25)  in  the  third  year,  and  fifteen  (15)  in  the 
fourth  year. 

These  courses  of  study  may  be  modified,  when  necessary  to  meet 
the  requirements  for  admission  to  higher  institutions. 

Whenever  any  pupil  on  account  of  ill  health,  or  for  any  other 
sufficient  reason,  is  unable  to  complete  the  prescribed  work  in  the 
assigned  time,  the  principal  is  authorized  to  arrange  the  subjects  of 


474 


THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


study  in  any  one  of  these  courses  in  such  a  way  that  the  require- 
ments may  be  completed  in  an  additional  year. 


I.  —  CLASSICAL. 

Tear.  Periods  a  Week. 

I.  Biology 3 

English 3 

History 3 

Latin 5 

Mathematics 4 

Physiology _1 

19 

II.  English 3 

French  or  German  (4)  or 

Greek  (5)  4  or  6 

History 3 

Latin 6 

Mathematics   .    .    .    .    .      4 

19  or  20 

HI.    English 3 

French    or    German    or 

Greek  4 

French  or  German  begun 
(4)  or  Physics  (5)  4  or  6 

Latin 5 

Mathematics   .     .    .    .    .      4 

20  or  21 

IV.    English 3 

French     or    German    or 
Greek  4 

Latin 5 

Eleetives 8 

A  modern  language 
Advanced  Mathematics 
Biology 
Chemistry 

Greek  and  Latin  (ad- 
ditional) 
History 

20 

n.  —  COLLEGE  AND  NORMAL 
PREPARATORY. 

I.        Biology 3 

English 3 


Year.  Periods  a  Week. 

History 3 

Latin 5 

Mathematics 4 

Physiology 1 

19 

II.  English 3 

French  or  German   ...      4 

History 3 

Latin 6 

Mathematics J 

19 

III.  English 3 

French  or  German   ...       4 

Latin 5 

Mathematics 4 

Physics 5 

21 

IV.  English 3 

Latin 5 

Electives 12 

Astronomy 

Biology 

Chemistry 

French  or  German 

History 

Mathematics 

Physiography 

"20 

III.  —  SCIENTIFIC. 

I.  Biology 3 

English 3 

French  or  German  or  Span- 
ish or  Latin      ....  6 

History 3 

Mathematics 4 

Physiology 1 

"19 

II.  English 3 

French    or    German    or 

Spanish  (4)  or  Latin  (5)  4oro 
History 3 


APPENDIX  B 


475 


Tear.  Periods  a  Week. 

Mathematics 4 

Physiography  or  Chemis- 
try     .      4 

18  or  19 

HI.     Civics  and  Economics  .     .      3 

English 3 

French  or  German  or  Span- 
ish (4)  or  Latin  (5)      .     4  or  5 

Mathematics 4 

Physics 5 

19  or  20 

IV.     English 3 

French  or  German  or  Span- 
ish (4)  or  Latin  (5)      .    4  or  5 


Electives1      .    .    . 
Astronomy 
Biology 
Chemistry 
History 
Mathematics 
Physiography 


12 


19  or  20 


II. 


IV.  —  MODERN  LANGUAGE. 

Biology  .......      3 

English  .......      3 

French    .......      6 

History  .......      3 

Mathematics    .....      4 

Physiology      .....  _  1 

19 

English  .......  3 

French    .    .'   .....  4 

German  .......  4 

History  .......  3 

Mathematics    .....  4 


III. 


English 3 

French 4 

German 4 

Mathematics 4 

Physics 6 

~20 

1  A  pupil  desiring  to  pursue  the  study  of  a  second  foreign  language  will  be  permitted  to 
elect  one  of  the  modern  languages  not  previously  pursued. 


Year.  Periods  a  Week. 

IV.  Chemistry 4 

English 3 

German 4 

History 4 

Mathematics 4 


V.  —  COMMERCIAL. 

Biology 8 

English 3 

French  or  German  or  Span- 
ish    6 

History 3 

Mathematics 4 

Physiology 1 


II.      Bookkeeping  and  Commer- 
cial Arithmetic     ...  4 

English  .     • 3 

History 3 

Mathematics 4 

The    Modern    Language 

continued  4 


III.  Bookkeeping  and  Commer- 

cial Arithmetic     ...      4 
Civics  and  Economics  .    .      3 

English 3 

Stenography  and  Type- 
writing   5 

The  Modern  Language 
continued  or  a  second 
Modern  Language  begun 
(4)  or  Physics  (5)  .  .  4  or  6 

19  or  20 

IV.  Commercial  Law  and  His- 

tory of  Commerce     .     .      4 

English 3 

English  Composition    .     .      3 
Stenography    and    Type- 
writing     6 

The  first  Modern  Lan- 
guage continued,  or  a 


476 


THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


Periods  a  Week, 
second     Modern     Lan- 
guage     continued      or 
Chemistry  or  History    .      4 

19. 

TABULAR  VIEW  OF  STUDIES. 

1st  Year.  —  Drawing,  Music,  Physi- 
cal Training. 

History :  Oriental,  Grecian, 
Roman. 

Language :  English,  French, 
German,  Latin,  Spanish. 

Mathematics :  Algebra. 

Science:  Biology  (elementary), 
Physiology. 

2d  Year.  —  Drawing,  Music,  Physi- 
cal Training. 

Commercial  Subjects :  Arithme- 
tic, Bookkeeping. 

History :  English,  Mediaeval, 
Modern. 

Language :  English,  French, 
German,  Greek,  Latin,  Span- 
ish. 

Mathematics :  Geometry. 

Science :  Chemistry,  Physiog- 
raphy. 


3d  Year.  —  Drawing,  Music,  Physi- 
cal Training. 

Commerial  Subjects:  Arithme- 
tic, Bookkeeping,  Stenogra- 
phy, Typewriting. 

History :  Civics,  Economics. 

Language :  English,  French, 
German,  Greek,  Latin,  Span- 
ish. 

Mathematics :  Algebra,  Geome- 
try. 

Science:  Physics. 

4th  Year.  —  Drawing,  Music,  Physi- 
cal Training. 

Commercial  Subjects :  Commer- 
cial Law,  History  of  Com- 
merce, Stenography,  Type- 
writing. 

History :  Modern-Continental, 
United  States. 

Language :  English,  French, 
German,  Greek,  Latin,  Span- 
ish. 

Mathematics :  Algebra,  Geome- 
try, Trigonometry. 

Science :  Astronomy,  Biology, 
Chemistry,  Physiography. 


II 


COURSE  OF   STUDY,    ST.    MARK'S   SCHOOL,   SOUTH- 
BOROUGH,   MASSACHUSETTS,    1901-1902. 


FIRST  FORM 

ENGLISH.  Reading:  Kipling's  Jungle  Books;  Macaulay's  Lays  of 
Ancient  Rome ;  Andrew  Lang's  Blue  Poetry  Book  ;  Bunyan's  Pil- 
grim's Progress ;  Longfellow's  Evangeline,  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn. 
Writing.  Spelling:  The  American  Word-Book.  Composition. 
Declamation. 

HISTORY.     History  of  England  (Montgomery). 

LATIN.  Collar  and  Daniell's  First  Year  Latin.  Rust's  Latin  Composi- 
tion. 


APPENDIX  B  477 

MATHEMATICS.  Arithmetic,  through  Interest,  including  problems  by 
algebraic  methods.  Mental  Arithmetic. 

SCIENCE.     Physical  Geography.     Nature  Study. 

FRENCH.  Edgren's  Grammar.  Lyon  and  de  Larpent's  French  Trans- 
lation Book.  Composition.  Conversation. 

SACRED  STUDY.     The  Catechism.     Bible  Lessons. 


SECOND   FORM 

ENGLISH.     Reading :  Scott's  Marmion,  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Talisman ; 

Selection  from  Hawthorne ;  Dickens'  Oliver  Twist,  David  Copperfield  ; 

Stevenson's  Treasure  Island.      Writing.      Spelling:    The  American 

Word-Book.  Composition.  Declamation. 
HISTORY.  History  of  France  (Montgomery). 
LATIN.  Gate  to  Caesar.  The  Gallic  War,  two  books.  Rust's  Latin 

Composition.     Bennett's  Grammar. 

MATHEMATICS.    Arithmetic,  finished.     Algebra,  through  Fractions. 
FRENCH.     French  Grammar  (Grandgent).     Easy  texts  for  translation. 

Composition. 

SCIENCE.     Physical  Geography.     Nature  Study. 
SACRED  STUDY.    The  Bible. 


THIRD  FORM 

ENGLISH.  Reading:  Byron's  Mazeppa,  Prisoner  of  Chillon,  and  other 
poems;  Tennyson's  Idylls  of  the  King;  Dryden's  Palamon  and 
Arcite ;  Goldsmith's  Poems,  She  Stoops  to  Conquer,  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field  ;  Coleridge's  Ancient  Mariner ;  Pope's  Iliad  ;  Tennyson's  Com- 
ing of  Arthur,  Holy  Grail,  Passing  of  Arthur.  Composition.  Maxwell 
and  Smith's  Writing  in  English.  Declamation. 

GREEK.  The  Beginner's  Greek  Book  (White).  Selections  from  the 
Anabasis  (Phillpotts  and  Jerram).  Goodwin's  Grammar. 

LATIN.  Csesar,  Gallic  War,  four  books.  Vergil,  JEneid,  Book  I., 
1-300.  Daniell's  Latin  Composition.  Bennett's  Grammar. 

FRENCH.  French  Grammar  (Edgren).  L'Abbe  Constantin  (Halevy). 
Les  Fleurs  de  France  (Fontaine).  Composition. 

GERMAN.  Zerbrochene  Krug  (Zschokke).  Marchen  und  Erzahluugen. 
Conversation.  Grammar. 

MATHEMATICS.  Algebra,  to  Quadratic  Equations.  Plane  Geometry, 
Book  I. 

SCIENCE.     Physiography. 

SACRED  STUDY.    Old  Testament  History. 


478          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


FOURTH    FORM 

ENGLISH.     Shakespeare:  Twelfth  Night,  Merchant  of  Venice,  Henry 

IV.,   Macbeth;    Eliot:    Silas    Marner.       Rhetoric.      Composition. 

Debates. 

HISTORY.     History  of  the  United  States  (Johnston). 
GREEK.     Xenophon,  Anabasis,  I.-IV.     Greek  Composition  (Collar  and 

Daniell).     Goodwin's  Grammar. 
LATIN.     Vergil,  ^Eneid  (I.-V.).     Daniell's  Latin   Composition.     Ben- 

nett's   Grammar.      Selections   from    Nepos.      Sight   Readings   from 

Prose  Authors. 
FRENCH.       Histoire   d'un   Consent   (Erckmanu-Chatrian).       Colomba 

(Michelet).     Mademoiselle  de  la  Seigliere.     Composition. 
GERMAN.     German  Grammar.     Nicotiana  (Baumbach).     Composition. 

Fluch  der  Schonheit  (Riehl).     L' Arrabbiata  (Heyse).     Zerbrochene 

Krug  (Zschokke).     (Substitute  for  Greek.) 

MATHEMATICS.     Algebra,  finished.     Plane  Geometry,  three  books. 
SCIENCE.     (1)  Botany.      (2)  Mechanical  Drawing.     Either  (I)  or  (2) 

M  required  when  Greek  is  omitted. 
SACRED  STUDY.     Life  of  Christ :  Study  of  the  Gospels. 


FIFTH   FORM 

ENGLISH.  Shakespeare's  Macbeth;  Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation 
with  America ;  Milton's  Shorte'r  Poems ;  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley 
Papers,  from  the  Spectator;  Macaulay's  Essays  on  Milton  and 
Addison.  Composition.  Rhetoric.  Extemporaneous  Speaking. 

HISTORY.  (1)  A  History  of  Greece  (Myer).  History  of  Rome 
(Allen).  (2)  History  of  the  United  States  (Fiske).  History  of 
England  (Lamed). 

GREEK.  Xenoplion:  Anabasis,  II.  (review),  VII. ;  Hellenica,  II.- VII., 
Selections ;  Cyropsedia,  Selections.  Translations  at  sight.  Greek 
Composition. 

LATIN.  Cicero,  four  orations  against  Catiline.  Selections  from  Ovid 
and  Vergil.  Sallust's  Catiline.  Sight  Reading.  Daniell's  Latin 
Composition.  Bennett's  Grammar. 

FRENCH.  Corneille,  Racine,  Moliere  :  one  play  by  each  author.  Made- 
moiselle de  la  Seigliere.  Colomba.  Trois  Contes  Choisis.  Reading 
at  sight.  Composition,  based  on  texts. 

GERMAN.  Katzensteg  (Suderrnann).  Der  Neffe  als  Onkel.  (Schiller). 
Der  Schwiegersohn  (Baumbach).  Aus  dem  Staat  Friedrichs  des 
Grossen  (Freytag).  Das  Wirthshaus  zu  Cransac  (Zschokke).  Silva's 
Aus  meinem  Konigreich.  Grammar  (Joynes-Meissner  and  Thomas). 


APPENDIX  &  479 


MATHEMATICS.     Geometry.     Reviews. 
SCIENCE.     Physics,  with  laboratory  work. 

(See  Sixth  Form  Electives.) 
SACKED  STUDY.    Early  Church  History. 


SIXTH  FORM 

Required. 

ENGLISH.  Composition:  Hill's  Principles  of  Rhetoric;  Practice  in 
Writing.  Literature:  Swift's  Battle  of  the  Books  and  Gulliver's 
Travels ;  Defoe's  Robinson  Crusoe  (Part  I.)  ;  Pope's  Rape  of  the 
Lock,  Epistle  to  Arbuthnot,  and  Iliad  I.,  VI.,  XXII. ;  The  Lives 
of  Swift,  Defoe,  and  Pope,  in  the  English  Men  of  Letters  Series ; 
Thackeray's  English  Humorists,  and  Henry  Esmond.  Three  hours  a 
week.  Extemporaneous  Speaking.  One  hour  a  week. 

LATIN.  Cicero :  Roscius  Amerinus,  Archias,  Manilian  Law,  Milo,  and 
other  orations.  Vergil  :  JSneid,  Books  VI.-XIL  Mather  and 
Wheeler's  Latin  Composition.  Six  hours  a  week. 

GERMAN.  Equivalent  to  course  in  Fifth  Form,  for  those  who  have  not 
taken  it.  Four  hours  a  week. 

SACRED  STUDY.     Church  History.     One  hour  a  week. 

Elective*. 

MATHEMATICS.  (1)  Trigonometry,  Solid  Geometry.  (2)  Advanced 
Algebra.  (3)  Analytic  Geometry.  Three  hours  a  week. 

SCIENCE.  (1)  Physiography.  (2)  Mechanical  Drawing,  including  Pro- 
jections. (3)  Advanced  Physics.  (4)  Botany.  (5)  Meteorology. 
Laboratory  work  in  all  the  science  courses.  Four  hours  a  week. 

HISTORY.  (1)  Emerton's  Mediaeval  Europe  (814-1300).  (2)  John- 
ston's American  Politics.  Three  hours  a  week. 

GREEK.  Homer  :  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  Selections  and  at  sight.  Attic 
Prose  at  sight  (Euripides,  Medea).  Four  hours  a  week. 

GERMAN.  Composition.  Thomas's  Grammar.  Wilhelm  Tell  (Schiller). 
Minna  von  Barnhelm  (Lessing).  Dichtung  und  Wahrheit  (Goethe). 
Aus  dem  Staat  Friedrichs  (Freytag).  Neffe  als  Onkel  (Schiller). 
Lyrics.  Sight  Translation.  Four  hours  a  week. 


480 


THE  MAKING   OF  O'UR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


III 


COURSES   OF   STUDY   OF   THE   LOWELL   HIGH 
SCHOOL,   SAN   FRANCISCO,    1901 

Conspectus  of  the  Four  Courses 


Year 

SUBJECTS 

I. 

Latin- 
Scientific 
Periods 

II. 

Classical 
Periods 

III. 

Modern  Language 
Periods 

IV. 

Scientific 
Periods 

I. 

Mathematics 
English 
Latin 
Science 
History 
Drawing 

2 
4 
4 
3 
4 
3 

Same  as 
Course  I. 

Same  as 
Course  I. 

Same  as 
Course  I. 

II. 

Mathematics 
English 
Latin 
Science 
History 
Greek 
Drawing 

4 

3 
6 
4 
3 

1 

4 
3 
5 

4,0 
3 

i 

Same  as 
Course  I. 

Same  as 
Course  I. 

III. 

Mathematics 
English 
Latin 
Science 
History 
Greek 
French 
German 

5 
3 
4 
5 
3 

4 

2 
4 
2 
3 
5 

5             5 
3             2 

(4)*         (4)J 
6              2 
3             3 

(4)*         (4)J 
(4)*         (4)j 

5             5 
3           3,2 
4,0 
6,  9         5,9 
3           3,0 

(4)11 
(4)11 

IV. 

Mathematics 
English 
Latin 
Science 
History 
Greek 
French 
German 
Drawing 

3 
5 

(4)* 
3 
5 

(4)* 
(4)* 

4,  0 
4,5 

(4)t 
4 
0,5 

(4)t 
(4)t 
(4)t 

3           4,0 
6           4,5 
(4)*          (4)t 
3              4 
5           0,5 

(4)*        (4)J 
(4)*         (4)f 

3             3 
6           4,5 

3             3 
5           4,5 

(4)11 
4              4 

Italicized  numbers  apply  to  second  term  only. 
*  Any  one  of  three  languages, 
t  Any  two  of  the  four  languages. 
t  Any  two  of  the  three  languages. 


||  Either  one  of  the  two  languages. 
§  Compare  with  Course  I. 
*d  Compare  with  Course  II. 


APPENDIX  C 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

General  histories,  local,  state,  and  national,  are  not  included.  State  and 
city  school  reports,  and  reports  and  catalogues  of  individual  institutions  are 
likewise  omitted,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  which  contain  historical  notes, 
reprints  of  earlier  documents,  or  other  matter  of  unusual  historical  in- 
terest. Histories  of  a  few  institutions  of  higher  education  are  included  be- 
cause of  matter  which  they  contain  relating  to  secondary  schools. 
For  list  of  abbreviations,  see  p.  xiii. 

I.   GENERAL 

Academies  and  other  schools  in  New  England  and  New  York.     Quarterly 
Register  and  Journal  of  the  American  Education  Society,  v.  2,  pp. 
231-237.     Audover,  1830. 
List  of  academies    and   their  funds.      Some   additional   items  are  given 

relating  to  the  more  important  schools. 

Academies,  high  schools,  and  gymnasia.      The  Quarterly  Register  of  the 

American  Education  Society,  v.  3,  pp.  288-292.     Boston,  1831. 
An  interesting  supplement  to  the  account  in  the  preceding  volume. 

Academy,  The  old  village.     The  Atlantic  Monthly,  v.   72,  pp.   853-855, 

December,  1893. 

From  the  Contributors'  Club.  A  bright  and  entertaining  sketch  of  a 
country  academy  fifty  years  ago. 

Adams,  Charles  Kendall.     Ought  the  state  to  provide  for  higher  education  ? 

The  New  Englauder,  v.  37,  pp.  362-384,  May,  1878. 
A  reply  to  President  Magoun's  article  (New  Englander,  July,  1877)  on  The 
source  of  American  education. 

Adams,  Charles  Kendall.  Review  of  Ten  Brook's  "American  state 
universities,  their  origin  and  progress."  N.  A.  Rev.,  v.  121,  pp. 
365-408,  October,  1875. 

This  book  review  is  substantially  an  independent  article.  It  contains  in- 
teresting notes  on  the  history  of  secondary  as  well  as  of  higher  education.  It 
called  forth  a  reply  from  President  M;«goun,  q.  v. 

31 


482          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Adams,  Francis.     The  free  school  system  of  the  United  States.     London : 

Chapman  and  Hall,  1875,  pp.  309. 

Calls  attention  to  the  increase  of  high  schools  and  decrease  of  academies  in 
different  states,  pp.  84-95. 

Allen,   Nathan,  M.D.      The  old   academies.     New  Englander  and  Yale 

Review,  v.  44,  pp.  104-112,  January,  1885. 

Reviews  the  objects  for  which  the  academies  were  founded,  and  proceeds 
with  adverse  criticism  of  high  schools. 

Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  of  the  Middle  States  and 

Maryland.     Proceedings  of  the  annual  convention. 

The  first  two  numbers,  1887  and  1888,  appeared  under  the  title  of  the 
College  Association  of  Pennsylvania;  the  third  to  the  sixth,  1889-92  (num- 
bered 1-4),  under  the  title  of  the  College  Association  of  the  Middle  States  and 
Maryland  ;  the  series  under  the  present  title  began  in  1893  (numbered  1),  the 
following  issue  was  numbered  2,  but  with  the  issue  of  1895,  consecutive  num- 
bering from  the  beginning  was  adopted,  making  that  issue  no.  9.  A  list  of 
the  earlier  publications  of  the  Association  appears  in  the  issue  for  1898  (no.  12). 

Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  of  the  Southern  States. 

Proceedings  of  the  [annual]  meeting. 
The  series  begins  with  the  first  meeting,  held  in  1895. 

Austin,  L.  H.     The  province  of  the  western  high  school.     Proc.  N.  E.  A., 
1891,  pp.  677-687. 

Barney,  H.  H.     Report  on  the  American  system  of  graded  free  schools,  to 
the  board  of  trustees  and  visitors  of  common  schools.     Printed  by 
order  of  the  board.     Cincinnati,  1851,  pp.  72. 
A  valuable  document.     The  writer  was  principal  of  the  central  school  of 

Cincinnati.     A  reply  was  published  by  Dr.  Jerome  Mudd,  q.  v. 

Blackmar,   Frank  W.,   Ph.D.     The  history   of  federal  and   state  aid   to 
higher  education  in  the  United  States.     Circ.  Inf.  no.  1,  1890.     Am. 
Ed.  Hist.,  no.  9,  pp.  343. 
A  very  comprehensive  work,  bringing  together  much  information  not  readily 

found  elsewhere. 

Blodgett,  James  H.      Secondary  education  in  census  years.     School  and 

College,  v.  1,  pp.  14-21,  January,  1892. 

Points  out  the  difficulty  that  has  been  experienced  in  the  attempt  to  secure 
accurate  statistical  information  regarding  secondary  schools. 

Boone,  Richard  G.     Education  in  the  United  States ;  its  history  from  the 
earliest  settlements.     New  York:   D.  Appleton  and  Co.,  1893,  pp. 
15  +  402. 
Brings  together  a  great  many  significant  facts  regarding  the  development  of 

our  secondary  education.     See  especially  chapters  1,  3,  5,  15,  19,  and  21. 


APPENDIX  C  483 

Boutwell,  George  8.  Tiiouglits  on  educational  topics  and  institutions. 
Boston:  Phillips,  Sampson  and  Co.,  1859,  pp.  365. 

Brown,  Elmer  Ellsworth.  Secondary  education.  In  Butler,  Education 
iii  the  United  States  (Albany,  1900),  monograph  4,  v.  1,  pp.  143-205. 

Brown,  Elmer  Ellsworth.  Secondary  education  in  the  United  States.  His- 
torical sketch.  The  School  Review,  v.  5,  pp.  84-94,  139-147,  193- 
200,  269-285  (February,  March,  April,  and  May,  1897) ;  v.  6,  pp. 
225-238,  357-363,  527-540  (April,  May,  and  September,  1898) ;  v. 
7,  pp.  36-41,  103-112,  286-294  (January,  February,  and  May,  1899); 
v.  8,  pp.  485-498,  540-548  (October  and  November,  1900);  and  v. 
9,  pp.  34-52  (January,  1901). 

Both,  0.  Gary,  Ph.D.  The  first  common  schools  of  New  England.  New 
Englander  and  Yale  Review,  v.  44,  pp.  214-226,  330-343,  March  and 
May,  1885. 

Clews,  Elsie  W.,  Ph.D.  Educational  legislation  and  administration  of  the 
colonial  governments.  Col.  Univ.  Contribs.,  v.  6,  uos.  1-4.  New 
York  :  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1899,  pp.  9  +  524. 

An  extremely  valuable  compilation  of  colonial  documents,  with  historical 
notes.  It  covers  all  of  the  colonies  and  the  whole  colonial  period.  A  bibli- 
ography is  given  in  Appendix  B. 

Constitutional  provision  respecting  education.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  17,  pp. 

81-124. 
Provisions  found  in  the  constitutions  of  the  several  states  down  to  1867. 

Corbett,  Henry  E.     Free  high  schools  for  rural  pupils.     Rept.  Comr.  Ed. 

for  1899-1900,  v.  1,  pp.  643-062. 

Reprinted  with  minor  changes  from  The  School  Review  for  April  and  May, 
1900.  Notes  are  added  by  Professor  J.  W.  Steams  of  Wisconsin. 

Cummings,  A.  W.,  D.D.,  LL.D.     The  early  schools  of  Methodism.     New 

York  :  Phillips  &  Hunt,  1886,  pp.  432. 

A  valuable  survey  of  the  schools  established  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  in  the  "  Asburyan  "  period. 

Edwards,    B.    B.      Education  and    literary  institutions.     The   American 

Quarterly  Register,  v.  5,  pp.  273-331.     Boston,  May,  1833. 
A  remarkably  painstaking  and  comprehensive  account  of  education,  elemen- 
tary, secondary,  and  higher,  in  the  several  states  in  1833.     An  abridgment  of 
this  article  may  be  found  in  the  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  27,  pp.  289-338. 

Fay,  Edward  Allen.     The  secondary  and  higher  education  of  the  deaf  in 
America.     Forty-third  annual  report  of  the  Columbia  Institution  for 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb  (Washington,  1900),  pp.  16-20. 
A  very  interesting  paper,  prepared  for  the  International  Congress  for  the 

Study  of  Questions  of  Education  and  Assistance  of  Deaf-Mutes  held  at  Parig 

in  August,  1900. 


484          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Fitch,  J.  G.,  LL.D.      Notes   on  American  schools  and  training  colleges. 

London:  Macmillan  and  Co.,  1890,  pp.  133. 

Pages  25-31  present  a  sympathetic  account  of  American  high  schools  from 
an  English  point  of  view. 

Free  schools  of  New  England.   N.  A.  Rev.,  v.  19,  pp.  448-457,  October,  1824. 
A  review  of  James   G.   Carter's  Letters  .  .  .  on  the  free  schools  of  New 
England. 

Oilman,  D.  C.     Education  in  America,  1776-1876.     N.  A.  Rev.,  v.  122, 

pp.  191-228,  January,  1876. 
Contains  brief  passages  relating  to  secondary  schools. 

Hammond,  Eev.  Charles.  New  England  academies  and  classical  schools. 
Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  16,  pp.  403-429.  Reproduced,  Rept.  Comr.  Ed., 
1867-68,  pp.  403-429;  and,  Fortieth  Annual  Report  of  the  [Massa- 
chusetts] Board  of  Education,  1875-76,  appendix,  pp.  182-207- 

Harley,  Lewis  E.  The  high  school  system.  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  v.  8,  no.  2,  pp.  120-130, 
September,  189C. 

Hedges,  Nathan.  Schools  as  they  were  sixty  years  ago.  Am.  Journ.  Ed., 
v.  16,  pp.  737-742. 

Hill,  Frank  A.  How  far  the  public  high  school  is  a  just  charge  upon  the 
public  treasury.  Au  address  given  before  the  New  England  Associa- 
tion of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools  at  Springfield,  Oct.  15, 1898. 
Reprint,  pp.  28  -f  8. 

Hinsdale,  B.  A.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.     Documents  illustrative  of  American  educa- 
tional history.     Rept.  Comr.  Ed.,  1892-93,  v.  2,  pp.  1225-1414. 
An  extensive  collection,  with  valuable  notes,  covering  190  pages.     Use  is 
made  of  Dr.  Hough's  compilation,  but  much  is  given  here  that  was  not  found 
in  the  earlier  work. 

Hough,  Franklin  B.     Constitutional  provisions  relating  to  education,  litera- 
ture, and  science  in  the  several  states  of  the  American  Union.  .  .  . 
Circ.  Inf.  no.  7,  1875,  pp.  130. 
Complete  down  to  the  date  of  publication.     A  classified  summary  adds  to 

its  value. 

Hoyt,  John  W.     Report  on  education.     Washington,  1870,  pp.  398. 

The  report  of  a  commissioner  to  the  Paris  Universal  Exposition  of  1867. 
Chapter  4  compares  American  with  European  secondary  education. 

Huling,  Eay  Greene.  The  American  high  school.  Educational  Review, 
v.  2,  pp.  40-56,  123-139,  June  and  July,  1891. 

Hull,  Lawrence  Cameron.  Private  schools  for  boys.  Ed.  Rev.,  v.  20,  pp. 
365-376,  November,  1900. 


APPENDIX  C  485 

Keyes,  Charles  H.  The  differentiation  of  the  American  secondary  school. 
Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1899,  pp.  412-421. 

Kiddle,  Henry,  and  Schem,  Alexander  J.     The   cyclopaedia  of  education. 

New  York  and  London,  1883. 
The  article  on  High  Schools  contains  brief  historical  notes. 

Low,  Seth.  The  public  high  school.  Address  delivered  on  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Albany  high  school,  November  16, 
1893.  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  107th  annual  report  of 
the  Regents.  Vol.  1,  appendix,  pp.  537-552.  Albany,  1894. 

Magoun,  Rev.  Geo.  F.  The  source  of  American  education  —  popular  and 
religious.  The  New  Englander,  v.  36,  pp.  445-486,  July,  1877. 

An  argument  to  show  that  schools  of  colonial  times  were  not  under  state 
control.  It  includes  quotations  from  a  wide  range  of  authorities  both  early 
and  recent.  In  part,  a  reply  to  C.  K.  Adams'  review  of  Ten  Brook,  q.  v.  See 
also,  Dr.  Adams'  rejoinder,  Ought  the  state  to  provide,  etc. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.,  LL.D.  Public  schools  during  the  colonial  and  revolu- 
tionary period  in  the  United  States.  Kept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1893-94, 
v.  1,  pp.  639-738. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.,  LL.D.  Education  in  the  northwest  during  the  first 
half  century  of  the  republic,  1790-1840.  Kept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1894- 
95,  v.  2,  pp.  1513-1550. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.,  LL.D.  The  American  common  school  in  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  during  the  first  half  century  of  the 
republic.  Kept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1895-96,  v.  1,  pp.  219-266. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.,  LL.D.  The  American  common  school  in  the  southern 
states  during  the  first  half  century  of  the  republic,  1790-1840.  Kept. 
Comr.  Ed.  for  1895-96,  v.  1,  pp.  267-338. 

Mayo,  [Rev.]  A.  D.,  LL.D.  Horace  Mann  and  the  great  revival  of  the  Ameri- 
can common  school,  1830-1850.  llept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1896-97,  v.  1, 
pp.  715-767. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.  [LL.D.].  Henry  Barnard.  Kept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1896- 
97,  v.  1,  pp.  769-810. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.,  LL.D.  The  organization  and  reconstruction  of  state  sys- 
tems of  common-school  education  in  the  North  Atlantic  states  from 
1830  to  1865.  llept.  Corar.  Ed.  for  1897-98,  v.  1,  pp.  355-486. 

Mayo,  Rev.  A.  D.  [LL.D.].  The  development  of  the  common  school  in  the 
western  states  from  1830  to  1865.  Kept.  Cornr.  Ed.  for  1898-99, 
T.  1,  pp.  357-450. 


486          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Mndd,  Jerome,  M.D.     A  review   of  the   American  system  of  graded   free 

schools,  together  with  reasons  for  opposing  the  union  of  the  funds 

of  the  common  schools  with  those  of  Messrs.  Hughes  &  Woodward. 

Cincinnati,  1853,  pp.  52. 

Directed  in  part  against  the  report  by  H.  H.  Barney,  q.  v.      The  author  was 

a  member  of  the  Cincinnati  school  board,  and  wrote  from  a  Roman  Catholic 

standpoint. 

New  England  Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory  Schools.     Addresses 

and  proceedings. 

The  series  begins  with  a  report  issued  in  1892,  under  the  editorship  of  Mr. 
Ray  Greene  Huling,  and  embracing  an  account  of  the  preliminary  meeting 
(Oct.  16  and  17,  1885),  the  first  annual  meeting  (Oct.  16,  1886),  and  the  first 
special  meeting  (Jan.  7  and  8, 1887). 

Nightingale,  A.  F.,  Compiler.  Handbook  of  requirements  for  admission 
to  the  colleges  of  the  United  States.  New  York,  1879,  pp.  61. 

Nightingale,  A.  F.  The  tendency  of  students  to  omit  the  college  course 
and  to  enter  professional  schools  direct  from  secondary  schools. 
School  Review,  v.  5,  pp.  73-83,  February,  1897. 

Notre  Dame  of  Namur,  Sisters  of.  A  golden  jubilee  of  education.  N.  p., 
[1899,]  pp.  14. 

Oliver,  Henry  X.     "  *T  is  more  than  sixty  years  since,"  or  "  How  I  was 
educated."    From  six  to  fourteen.    Am.  lust.  Instr.,  1871,  pp.  51-79. 
The  greater  part  of  this  interesting  chapter  of  reminiscence  is  reproduced  in 
Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  26,  pp.  209-224. 

Peck,  William  T.     The  high  school  and  high  school  programs.     Pp.  1-31. 

Bound  with  the  Twenty-fourth  annual  report  of  the  [Rhode  Island] 

State  Board  of  Education.     Providence,  1894. 

Compares  early  college  courses  with  present  courses  in  high  schools,  and 
presents  a  brief  table  of  references. 

Fhilbrick,  John  D.,  LL.D.     City   school   systems   in  the   United   States. 

Circ.  Inf.  no.  1,  1S85,  pp.  207- 

Sketches  the  history  of  high  schools,  their  specialization,  their  merits  and 
defects,  evening  high  schools,  and  industrial  education  ;  pp.  22-32,  35-37, 
69-89. 

Pickard,  J.  L.,  LL.D.     Secondary  schools.     Education,  v.  15,   pp.  21-26, 

September,  1894. 

A  brief  history  of  what  the  National  Council  of  Education  has  done  with 
the  problem  of  the  course  of  study  for  secondary  scbools. 

Beports  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education.     Washington,  D.  C. 

Since  1871,  these  annual  reports  have  presented  statistics  of  private  second- 
ary schools  ;  since  1876,  of  city  high  schools  ;  since  1886-87,  of  students 


APPENDIX  C  487 

pursuing  each  of  the  more  common  secondary  school  studies  ;  since  1889-90, 
of  public  high  schools  not  included  in  city  school  systems  ;  and  since  1893-94 
there  has  been  added  each  year  an  analysis  of  these  statistics,  with  valuable 
comparative  tables. 

Report  of  committee  on  secondary  education   (with   discussion).      Proc. 

N.  E.  A.,  1885,  pp.  447-458. 

Reviews  the  history  of  academies  and  discusses  their  relation  to  high 
schools. 

Report  of  the  committee  on  secondary  school  studies  appointed  at  the 
meeting  of  the  National  Educational  Association  July  9,  1892,  with 
the  reports  of  the  conferences  arranged  by  this  committee  and  held 
December  28-30,  1892.  United  States  Bureau  of  Education.  Wash- 
ington, 1893,  pp.  249. 
Known  everywhere  as  the  "Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten."  Cf.  p.  414. 

Eeport  on  preparation  for  college  (with  discussion).     The  National  Council 
of  Education.     Proceedings  of  the  Fourth  Annual  Meeting,  pp.  36-42. 
Bound  with  Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  session  of  1884. 

Saunders,  Louise  Sheffield  Brownell.  Private  secondary  schools  for  girls. 
Ed.  Rev.,  v.  20,  pp.  357-364,  November,  1900. 

Schools  as  they  were  in  the  United  States  sixty  and  seventy  years  ago. 

Am.  Jouru.  Ed.,  v.  13,  pp.  737-752. 

Reminiscences  by  Salem  Town,  LL.D.,  Josiah  Qniucy,  William  Darlington, 
M.D.,  LL.D.,  Win.  B.  Fowle,  Edward  Everett,  John  Davis,  Robert  Coram  ; 
together  with  paragraphs  from  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Seaman,  J.  E.     High   schools   and  the  state   (with  discussion).     Proc. 

N.  E.  A.,  1885,  pp.  173-180. 
Argument  for  public  high  schools. 

Siljestrom,  P.  A.  The  educational  institutions  of  the  United  States,  their 
character  and  organization.  Translated  from  the  Swedish  by  Frederica 
Rowan.  London :  John  Chapman,  1853,  pp.  16  -f  415. 

Thomas,  Grace  Powers  [Editor].  Where  to  educate,  1898-1899.  A 
guide  to  the  best  private  schools,  higher  institutions  of  learning,  etc., 
in  the  United  States.  Boston:  Brown  and  Company  [1898],  pp. 
25  4-  379. 

Thurber,  Charles  H.  Breiinende  Fragen  in  dem  Unterrichtswesen  der 
Vereinigten  Staaten.  Deutsche  Zeitschrift  fur  das  auslaudisches 
Unterrichtswesen,  v.  2,  pp.  281-289,  July,  1897. 

Tomlinson,  E.  T.  The  field  and  work  of  the  academy.  Education,  T.  5, 
pp.  127-133,  November,  1884. 


488          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Tucker,  Professor  George.     Educational  statistics  of  census  of  1810.     Am. 

Journ.  Ed.,  v.  24,  pp.  171-176. 

A  summary  of  the  reports  of  schools  of  all  grades,  with  explanatory 
notes. 

University,  The,  and  the  high  schools.  Communication  from  a  committee 
of  the  board  of  regents  of  the  University  of  Minnesota  to  the  conven- 
tion of  county  and  city  school  superintendents  held  in  Minneapolis, 
August  26  and  27,  1872,  read  by  William  W.  Folwell. 

Webster,  Noah,  Jr.     Paragraphs  from  historical  and  geographical  account 

of  the  United  States.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  24,  pp.  159-163. 
A  brief  summary  of  educational  conditions  in  each  of  the  states  about  the 
year  1806. 

West,  Professor  Andrew  F.     The  relation  of  secondary  education  to  the 
American  university  problem.     Proc.  N.  E.  A.,  1885,  pp.  195-213. 
The  appended  tables  give  interesting  information  regarding  courses  of  study 
in  secondary  schools  in  1885.     The  paper  is  otherwise  full  of  interest. 

Winterbotham,  Bev.  W.     View  of  the  United  States  of  America  (extracts 

from).     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  24,  pp.  137-157. 

An  interesting  account  of  educational  conditions  in  each  of  the  states  about 
the  year  1796.  Cf.  p.  203  of  this  work. 

Woodbridge,  Bev.  William.  Reminiscences  of  female  education.  Am. 
Journ.  Ed.,  v.  16,  pp.  137-140. 

II.   STATE  AND  LOCAL 

Allen,  William  F.,  and  Spencer,  David  E.     Higher  education  in  Wisconsin. 

Circ.  Inf.  no.  1,  1889.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  7,  pp.  6S.  . 
Contains   references    to   secondary  schools  on  pp.  19,  20,   41,   42.     Bibli- 
ographies may  be  found  on  pp.  44  and  49-50. 

Barnard,  Henry,  LL.D.  History  of  common  schools  in  Connecticut.  Am. 
Journ.  Ed.,  v.  4,  pp.  657-710;  v.  5,  pp.  114-154;  v.  13,  pp.  725- 
736;  v.  14,  pp.  214-275;  v.  15,  pp.  276-331. 

Blackmar,  Frank  W.,  Ph.  D.  Higher  education  in  Kansas.  Circ.  Inf.  no. 
2,  1900.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  27,  pp.  166.  Part  1,  ch.  5,  High  Schools ; 
part  2,  Non-State  or  Private  Schools. 

Boese,  Thomas.     Public  education  in  the  city  of  New  York.     New  York, 

1869,  pp.  228. 

Contains  brief  items  relating  to  secondary  schools  on  pp.  71,  72,  75,  171- 
173.  The  text  of  the  acts  of  March  30  arid  April  17,  1866,  relating  to  the 
College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  is  given  on  pp.  202-204. 


APPENDIX  C  489 

Bourne,  Wm.  Oland.  History  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  the  City  of 
New  York.  New  York,  1870,  pp.  32  +  768. 

The  steps  taken  toward  the  establishment  of  high  schools  are  narrated  on  pp. 
107,  116,  157  ;  and  in  chapter  17,  pp.  645-651. 

Bouton,  Nathaniel.  The  history  of  education  in  New- Hampshire.  A  dis- 
course, delivered  before  the  New-Hampshire  Historical  Society,  at 
their  annual  meeting  in  Concord,  June  12,  1833.  Concord,  1833, 
pp.  36. 

Bush,  George  Gary,  Ph.D.     History  of  education  in  Florida.     Circ.     Inf. 

no.  7, 1888.    Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  6,  pp.  54. 

A  large  part  of  this  monograph  has  to  do  with  education  of  a  secondary 
grade. 

Bush,  George  Gary,  Ph.D.  History  of  higher  education  in  Massachusetts. 
Circ.  Inf.  no.  6,  1891.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  13,  pp.  445. 

Devoted  in  the  main  to  the  history  of  colleges  and  universities.  A  bibli- 
ography of  the  history  of  Harvard  University  is  given  in  chapter  8.  The 
introduction  presents  highly  suggestive  views  of  secondary  education.  Mrs. 
Sarah  D.  (Locke)  Stowe  contributes  a  valuable  chapter  (19)  on  higher  edu- 
cation for  women. 

Bush,  George  Gary,  Ph.D.  History  of  education  in  New  Hampshire. 
Circ.  Inf.  no.  3,  1898.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  22,  pp.  170. 

Bush,  George  Gary,  Ph.  D.  History  of  education  in  Vermont.  Circ.  Inf. 
no.  4,  1900.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  29,  pp.  216. 

Chapters  2  and  3,  secondary  education.  A  bibliography  appears  on  pp.  214- 
215. 

Caldwell,  H.  W.     An  introduction  to  the  history  of  higher  education  in 
Nebraska,  and  a  brief  account  of  the  University  of  Nebraska.     Trans- 
actions  and  Reports  of  the  Nebraska  State  Historical  Society,  v.  3, 
pp.  201-229. 
Touches  at  some  points  upon  the  history  of  secondary  schools. 

Caldwell,  Howard  W.  Education  in  Nebraska.  Circ.  Inf.  no.  3,  1902. 
Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  32,  pp.  268.  High  schools,  pp.  259-262.  Bibliog- 
raphy, pp.  267-268. 

Cheney,  May  L.  High  school  legislation  in  California  since  1879.  Pacific 
Educational  Journal,  v.  11,  pp.  122-125,  March,  1895. 

Clark,  Willis  G.     History  of  education  in  Alabama,  1702-1889.     Circ.  Inf. 

no.  3,  1889.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  8,  pp.  281. 

Passages  relating  to  secondary  schools  may  be  found  on  the  following  pages  : 
4,  7,  27,  203-213,  224-237,  259.  A  brief  bibliography  is  given  on  page  10. 


490          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Coggeshall,  William  T.     System  of  common  schools  in  Ohio.     Am.  Journ. 

Ed.,  v.  6,  pp.  81-103." 

Contains  valuable  historical  notes,  but  not  a  great  deal  relating  to  second- 
ary schools. 

Colorado.  1861-1885.  Education  in  Colorado.  A  brief  history  of  the 
early  educational  interests  of  Colorado,  together  with  the  history  of 
the  state  teachers'  association,  and  short  sketches  of  private  and  de- 
nominational institutions.  Compiled  by  order  of  the  state  teachers' 
association.  Denver,  Colo.,  1885,  pp.  99. 
The  editorial  committee  consisted  of  Horace  M.  Hale,  Aaron  Gove,  and 

Joseph  C.  Shattuck. 

Connecticut.  A  brief  history  of  public  education  in  Connecticut.   [Eleventh] 
Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  State  of  Connecticut 
[1876],  pp.  91-134. 
Pp.  120-128  relate  especially  to  secondary  schools. 

Considine,  The  Rev.  M.  J.     A  brief  chronological  account  of  the  Catholic 
educational  institutions  of  the  archdiocese  of  New  York.     New  York  : 
Benziger  Brothers,  1894,  pp.  59. 
•A  very  compact  and  convenient  summary,   strictly  chronological  in  its 

arrangement. 

Constitutional  and  legal  provisions  respecting  schools.      Am.  Journ.  Ed., 

v.  24,  pp.  697-723. 

A  history  of  Massachusetts  school  legislation  down  to  and  including  the  act  of 
March  10, 1827;  also  the  constitutional  revisions  of  1867-68  affecting  education. 

Davis,  Winfield  J.  History  and  progress  of  the  public  school  department 
of  the  city  of  Sacramento  [California],  1849-1893.  .  .  .  Sacramento, 
1895,  pp.  174.  Historical  sketch,  pp.  1-127 ;  annual  report  for  1894, 
pp.  129-174. 

Emerson,  George  B.  Education  in  Massachusetts :  early  legislation  and 
history.  A  lecture  of  a  course  by  members  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  delivered  before  the  Lowell  Institute,  Feb.  16, 
1869.  Boston,  1869,  pp.  36. 

Fay,  Edwin  Whitfleld,  Ph.  D.  The  history  of  education  in  Louisiana. 
Circ.  Inf.  no.  1,  1898.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  20,  pp.  263.  Bibliography 
on  p.  263. 

Foote,  John  P.  The  schools  of  Cincinnati  and  its  vicinity.  Cincinnati, 
1855,  pp.  9  +  232. 

Freese,  Andrew.  Early  history  of  the  Cleveland  public  schools.  Published 
by  order  of  the  Board  of  Education.  Cleveland,  O.  :  Robinson, 
Savage  &  Co.,  1876,  pp.  128. 


APPENDIX  C  491 

Hinsdale,  B.  A.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  The  history  of  popular  education  on  the 
Western  Reserve.  An  address  delivered  in  the  series  of  educational 
conferences  held  in  Association  Hall,  Cleveland,  September  7  and  8, 
1896.  Reprint  from  Ohio  Arch,  and  His.  Society  Publications,  pp. 
35-58. 
Contains  interesting  notes  on  early  academies  and  high  schools. 

Hoose,  J.  H.  A  vindication  of  the  common  school,  free  high  school,  and 
normal  school  systems  of  education  as  they  exist  in  the  state  of  New 
York.  New  York  :  E.  Steiger,  1877,  pp.  33. 

Hutton,   Charles  E.     High   schools   of    California.      Pacific   Educational 

Journal,  v.  10,  pp.  252-259,  June,  1894. 
Statistics  of  high  schools  from  1888  to  1892,  with  additional  information. 

Indiana.  Circular  of  information  relating  to  the  commissioning  of  high 
schools.  Revised  by  the  State  Board  of  Education  Oct.  29,  1895, 
pp.  81. 

Ingle,  Edward.  Local  institutions  of  Virginia.  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity Studies  in  Historical  and  Political  Science,  Third  Series,  nos. 
2-3.  "  Baltimore,  1885. 

Jones,  Charles  Edgeworth.     Education  in  Georgia.     Circ.  Inf.  no.  4, 1888. 

Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  5,  pp.  154. 
Chapter  2  contains  interesting  information  relating  to  the  old  academies. 

Kansas.  Columbian  history  of  education  in  Kansas.  Topeka,  1893,  pp. 
8  +  231. 

Knight,  George  W.,  Ph.D.,  and  Commons,  John  B.,  A.M.  The  history  of 
higher  education  in  Ohio.  Circ.  Inf.  no.  5,  1891.  Am.  Ed.  Hist, 
no.  12,  pp.  258. 

Bibliographical  notes  are  appended  to  the  principal  chapters.  The  appen- 
dix contains  a  history  of  the  Association  of  Ohio  Colleges,  by  Professor  John 
M.  Ellis ;  and  the  abstract  of  a  paper  on  colleges  and  high  schools,  by  Pro- 
fessor Henry  C.  King. 

Lewis,  Alvin  Fayette.  History  of  higher  education  in  Kentucky.  Circ. 
Inf.  no.  3,  1899.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  25,  pp.  350. 

Louisville.  Reports  of  the  Louisville  school  board  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
December  31, 1895,  and  the  school  year  ending  June  30, 1896.  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  1896,  pp.  351.  Historical  notes  on  the  Male  High  School, 
pp.  62-84;  on  the  Girls'  High  School,  pp.  85-122;  on  the  Manual 
Training  School,  pp.  123-146. 

Lowell,  Massachusetts.    Whitcomb,  Arthur  K.    The  schools  of  Lowell.    His- 
torical sketch.    Lowell  Daily  Courier,  February  24, 1900,  pp.  5  and  8. 
^Contains  an  interesting  account  of  the  Lowell  High  School. 


492          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

McGrady,  Edward,  Jr.  Education  in  South  Carolina  prior  to  and  during 
the  Revolution.  A  paper  read  before  the  Historical  Society  of  South 
Carolina,  6th  August,  1883.  Published  by  the  Society.  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  1883,  pp.  54. 

McCrady,  Edward,  Jr.  McMaster  and  Macaulay.  The  Nation,  v.  37, 
p.  11,  July  5,  1883. 

A  letter  criticising  the  statement  in  the  first  volume  of  John  Bach  McMas- 
ter's  A  history  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  (New  York,  1883)  that  "  In 
South  Carolina,  prior  to  1730,  no  such  thing  as  a  grammar  school  existed." 

Mclaughlin,  Andrew  C.  History  of  higher  education  in  Michigan.  Circ. 
Inf.  no.  4,  1891.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  11,  pp.  179. 

Devoted  for  the  most  part  to  the  history  of  the  University  and  the  several 
colleges  of  Michigan.  An  account  of  the  origin  of  the  "diploma  school" 
system  is  given  on  pp.  70-71.  A  bibliography  of  the  University  is  presented 
in  chapter  11.  A  short  chapter  on  Common  schools  and  secondary  education, 
is  appended. 

Mann,  Horace.  Report  for  1846.  Tenth  annual  report.  Works,  v.  5, 
pp.  105-140.  Boston,  1891. 

Some  account  of  the  Massachusetts  laws  of  1642  and  1647,  with  comment 
on  the  same. 

Martin,  George  H.  The  early  school  legislation  of  Massachusetts.  New 
England  Magazine,  New  Series,  v.  8,  pp.  526-538,  June,  1893. 

Martin,  George  H.  Massachusetts  schools  before  the  Revolution.  New 
England  Magazine,  New  Series,  v.  9,  pp.  356-368,  November,  1893. 

Martin,  George  H.  The  district  school  and  the  academy  in  Massachusetts. 
New  England  Magazine,  New  Series,  v.  9,  pp.  450-462,  December, 
1893.  These  three  articles  are  reproduced  in  the  following  : 

Martin,  George  H.     The   evolution  of  the   Massachusetts  public  school 
system.     A  historical  sketch.     New  York :    D.  Appleton  and  Com- 
pany, 1894,  pp.  20  4-  284. 
Lectures  1,  2,  3,  and  5  deal  to  some  extent  with  secondary  education. 

Massachusetts  policy  of  incorporated  academies.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  17, 
pp.  574-575.  Reproduced  Idem,  v.  30,  pp.  58-59  ;  Idem,  pp.  761- 
762.  Also  Rept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  the  year  1868,  pp.  431-432.  Also 
Fortieth  annual  report  of  the  [Massachusetts]  Board  of  Education, 
1875-76,  Appendix.  E,  pp.  207-209. 
Report  of  a  committee  of  the  General  Court  on  the  subject  of  academies, 

1797  ;    with  comment    by  the  Joint   Standing   Committee   on   Education, 

1859. 


APPENDIX  C  493 

Massachusetts.     Statistics  of  academies  and  other  secondary  schools.     Am. 

Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  60-64. 

Massachusetts  schools  only.  The  table  is  reproduced  from  the  Fortieth 
annual  report  of  the  [Massachusetts]  Board  of  Education,  1875-76. 

Massachusetts.  The  high  school  policy  of  Massachusetts.  The  New  Eiig- 
lander,  v.  16,  pp.  854-873,  November,  1858. 

Mayes,  Edward,  LL.D.  History  of  education  in  Mississippi.  Circ.  Inf. 
no.  2,  1899.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  24,  pp.  290. 

Meriwether,  Colyer.  History  of  higher  education  in  South  Carolina  with 
a  sketch  of  the  free  school  system.  Circ.  Inf.  no.  3,  1888.  Am. 
Ed.  Hist.  no.  4,  pp.  247-  Chapter  1  — Early  education  in  the 
Colony^  Chapter  2  —  Education  in  the  academies.  Chapter  8  — 
Bibliography  of  the  history  of  higher  education  in  South  Carolina 
(very  full).  Appendix  2  —  Education  in  South  Carolina  prior  to  and 
during  the  Revolution.  By  Edward  McCrady,  Jr. 

Merriam,  Lucius  Salisbury,  Ph.D.     Higher  education  in  Tennessee.     Circ. 

Inf.  no.  5,  1893.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  16,  pp.  287. 

Contains  references  to  secondary  education  iu  the  histories  of  colleges  and 
universities  ;  and  in  chapter  12,  on  The  public  school  system  of  Tennessee,  by 
Thaddeus  P.  Thomas,  M.A.  Bibliographical  notes  are  appended  to  the 
principal  chapters. 

Michigan.     Historical  sketches  of  education  in   Michigan.     Forty-fourth 
annual  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  the 
State  of  Michigan,  with  accompanying  documents,  for  the  year  1880, 
pp.  295-453. 
A  valuable  sketch  of  secondary  education  is  included,  pp.  335-352. 

Michigan.     Reports  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  the  state 
of  Michigan  for  the  years  1855, 1856,  and  1857-     Ira  Mayhew,  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction.     Lansing,  1858,  pp.  7  +  629. 
These  three  reports  together  constitute  a  valuable  volume.     Attention  may 
be  called  especially  to  the  discussion  of  "  Intermediate  or  academic  schools," 
pp.  16-18  ;  "Colleges  and  academies,"  pp.  45-47  ;  "  Union  schools,"  pp.  47- 
63  ;  also  to  the  very  able  report  of  1856  by  President  Henry  P.  Tappan,  of  the 
University  of  Michigan,  pp.  155-184,  in  which  "an  entire  system  of  public 
education  "  is  described. 

Millar,  John.  The  school  system  of  the  state  of  New  York  (as  viewed  by 
a  Canadian).  Prepared  under  the  authority  of  the  Honorable  the 
Minister  of  Education,  as  an  appendix  to  his  annual  report.  Toronto  : 
Warwick  Bro's  &  Rutter,  1898,  pp.  204. 

Minnesota.     Annual  reports  of  the  inspector  of  state  graded  schools. 
The  first  of  these  reports  was  issued  in  1897. 


494  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Minnesota.     Annual  reports  of  the  inspector  of  state  high  schools,  state  of 

Minnesota. 
The  first  of  these  reports  was  issued  in  1894.     The  third  was  not  printed. 

Minnesota.  Manual  of  the  high  school  board,  state  of  Minnesota.  Revised 
edition,  1894,  pp.  130. 

Morrison,  Wm.  S.     Some  of  the  fragments  of  the  history  of  education  in 
South  Carolina.     Proceedings  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association  of 
South  Carolina,  twenty-third  annual  meeting,  1894,  pp.  6-16. 
Two  other  papers,  containing  historical  notes,  appear  in  the  same  number : 

one   by  Professor  Snyder,  on  The  public  schools  and  their  relation  to  higher 

education,  pp.  51-56  ;  and  one  by  Professor  H.  T.  Cook,  on  Relation  between 

schools  and  colleges,  pp.  57-62. 

Murray,  David,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.     History  of  education  in  New  Jersey.     Circ. 

Inf.  no.  1,  1899.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  23,  pp.  344. 

Contains  interesting  notes  and  reminiscences.     Chapter  6  relates  to  second- 
ary education  in  the  counties. 

North  Dakota.    Manual  of  the  high  school  board  of  North  Dakota  (1896). 

Ohio.  A  history  of  education  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  A  centennial  volume. 
Columbus,  Ohio,  1876. 

Ohio.  Historical  Sketches  of  the  public  schools  in  cities,  villages,  and 
townships  of  the  state  of  Ohio.  N.  p.,  1876. 

Parker,  Leonard  F.     Higher  education  in  Iowa.     Circ.  Inf.  no.  6,  1893. 

Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  17,  pp.  190. 

Contains  considerable  information  on  the  development  of  secondary  educa- 
tion in  chapters  1-4  and  8;  also  on  pages  100-105  and  119-121. 

Phipps,  Abner  J.,  Ph.D.  High  schools  of  Massachusetts.  Fortieth  annual 
report  of  the  [Massachusetts]  Board  of  Education,  1875-76.  Appen- 
dix B,  pp.  34-47.  Boston,  1877. 

Powell,  Lyman  P.     The  history  of  education  in  Delaware.    Circ.  Inf.  no.  3, 

1893.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  15,  pp.  186. 

Chapters  5-7  contain  considerable  information  relating  to  the  history  of 
Delaware  academies.     A  bibliography  is  given  in  chapter  11. 

Pratt,  Daniel  J.  Annals  of  public  education  in  the  state  of  New  York.  In 
proceedings  of  the  University  Convocation  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
published  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Regents.  82d  Kept.,  1869, 
pp.  830-886;  83d  Rept,,  1870,  pp.  ;  86th  Kept.,  1873,  pp. 

681-712  ;  87th  Rept.,  1874,  pp.  715-780;  89th  Rept.,  1876.  pp.  671- 
744. 
The  third  instalment  (1873)  contains  a  summary  of  legislative  grants  and 

franchises  for  the  benefit  of  academies.     The  fourth  (1874)  relates  to  the 


APPENDIX  C  495 

early  history  of  Columbia  College,  and  includes  reprints  of  William  Living- 
ston's articles  (see  pp.  283-287  and  296  of  this  work).  The  last  instalment 
relates  to  the  founding  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  All  are 
rich  in  reprints  of  original  documents,  collected  from  many  sources.  The 
first  two  instalments,  dealing  with  early  colonial  schools,  have  been  revised 
and  reprinted  in  the  following: 

Pratt,  Daniel  J.  Annals  of  public  education  in  the  state  of  New  York, 
from  1626  to  1746.  Albany,  1872,  pp.  7  +  152. 

Eamage,  B.  James.     Local  government  and  free  schools  in  South  Carolina. 
Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  History  and  Political  Science, 
v.  1,  no.  12.     Baltimore,  October,  1883,  pp.  40. 
Pp.  29-40  contain  a  rather  meagre  account  of  free  schools  in  South  Carolina. 

Eandall,  S.  S.  History  of  the  common  school  system  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  from  its  origin  in  1795,  to  the  present  time.  Including  the 
various  city  and  other  special  organizations,  and  the  religious  con- 
troversies of  1821,  1832,  and  1840.  New  York  :  Ivison,  Blakeman, 
Taylor  &  Co.,  1871. 

Baper,  Charles  Lee.  The  church  and  private  schools  in  North  Carolina. 
A  historical  study.  Greensboro,  N.  C.  :  Jos.  J.  Stone,  1898,  pp.  247. 

Sherwood,  Sidney,  Ph.D.  The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.* 
History  of  higher  education  in  the  state  of  New  York.  Circ.  Inf. 
no.  3,  1900.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  28,  pp.  538. 

Sherwood,  Sidney,  Ph  D.  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  origin, 
history,  and  present  organization.  Regents'  Bulletin  no.  11,  Janu- 
ary, 1893.  Albany,  1893,  pp.  201-300. 

Introduction.  (1)  Outline  of  the  present  system  in  New  York.  (2)  The 
founding  of  the  University.  (3)  An  era  of  educational  revolution.  (4)  Cen- 
tury of  University  work.  Bibliography.  Appendix  ;  text  of  University  laws 
of  1892. 

Shinn,  Josiah  H.     History  of  education   in  Arkansas.     Circ.  Inf.  no.  1, 

1900.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  26,  pp.  121. 

Part  1,  chapter  2,  Academics  [before  the  War]  ;  part  2,  chapter  2,  City 
systems  of  high  schools  and  academies. 

Simonds,  J.  W.     Schools  as  they  were  in  New  Hampshire.     Am.  Journ. 

Ed.,  v.  28,  pp.  353-368. 

Taken  from  the  annual  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
for  1876. 

Smith,  Charles  Lee.     The  history  of  education  in  North  Carolina.     Circ 

Inf.  no.  2,  1888.     Am.'Ed.'llist.  no.  3,  pp.  180. 

A  general  survey.  Chapter  6  is  devoted  to  secondary  education.  The  ap- 
pendix includes  a  bibliography. 


496          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Smith,  Edward.  A  history  of  the  schools  of  Syracuse  from  its  early  settle- 
ment to  January  1,  1893.  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  :  C.  W.  Bardeen,  1893, 
pp.  347. 

Snow,  Marshall  S.  Higher  education  in  Missouri.  Circ.  Inf.  no.  2,  1898. 
Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  21,  pp.  164. 

Statistics  of  public  instruction  in  cities  and  large  towns.    Am.  Journ.  Ed., 

v.  1,  pp.  458-470. 
Items  relating  to  high  schools  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Providence. 

Stearns,  J.  W.,  Editor.  The  Columbian  history  of  education  in  Wisconsin. 
Published  under  authority  and  by  direction  of  the  State  Committee  on 
Educational  Exhibit  for  Wisconsin,  1893,  pp.  8  +  720. 

Steiner,  Bernard  C.,  Ph.D.    Address  at  the  alumni  reunion  of  Frederick  Col- 
lege, June  22, 1892.     Published  in  the  catalogue  of  Frederick  College, 
Frederick,  Md.,  1893. 
A  carefully  prepared  sketch  of  the  history  of  secondary  education  in 

Maryland. 

Steiner,  Bernard  C.     The  history  of  education  in  Connecticut.     Circ.  Inf. 

no.  2,  1893.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  14,  pp.  300. 

Chapters  1,  2,  and  4  are  rich  in  information  with  reference  to  secondary 
education. 

Steiner,  Bernard  C.,  Ph.D.  History  of  education  in  Maryland.  Circ.  Inf. 
no.  2,  1894.  Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  19,  pp.  331. 

The  first  two  chapters,  contributed  by  Professor  Basil  Sellers,  present  a 
remarkably  thorough  study  of  the  history  of  secondary  schools  in  Maryland. 

Stockwell,  Thomas  B.  [Editor].  A  history  of  public  education  in  Rhode 
Island  from  1636  to  1876.  Providence,  1876,  pp.  5  +  458. 

Contains :  A  history  of  the  public  school  system  of  Rhode  Island,  by 
Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  ;  a  concise  history  of  the  rise  and  progress  of 
the  public  schools  in  the  city  of  Providence,  by  Edwin  Martin  Stone  ;  an 
account  of  the  University  Grammar  School  ;  and  brief  papers  on  the  history 
of  education  in  other  towns  and  institutions. 

Swett,  John.     History  of  the  public  school  system  of  California.     San 

Francisco,  1876,  pp.  247. 

References  to  secondary  education  are  found  on  pp.  17,  18,  77,  80,  94-95, 
232. 

Taylor,  James  W.     A  manual  of  the  Ohio  school  system ;  consisting  of  an 
historical  view  of  its  progress,  and  a  republication  of  the  school  laws 
in  force.     Cincinnati :  H.  W.  Derby  &  Co.,  1857,  pp.  14  +  17-413. 
Contains  An  historical  review  by  William  T.  Coggeshall,  pp.  325-41,3. 


APPENDIX  C  497 

Tolman,  William  Howe,  Ph.D.      History  of  higher  education  in   Rhode 

Island.     Circ.  Inf.  no.  1,  1894.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  18,  pp.  210. 
Parts  1,  2,  and  3  contain   much  information  relating  to  the  history  of 
secondary  schools,  with  liberal  quotations  from  original  documents.     A  bibli- 
ography is  found  on  pages  209  and  210. 

University  of  the  State  of  New  York.     Annual  reports   of  the   Regents, 

Albany. 

These  reports  embody  the  current  history  of  the  secondary  and  higher  edu- 
cation of  the  state  of  New  York  ;  and  contain  besides  much  valuable  informa-« 
tion  on  special  topics  relating  to  secondary  education  in  New  York  and 
elsewhere. 

Virginia.     Education  in  colonial  Virginia.     By  the  editor.     William  and 

Mary  College  Quarterly  Historical  Magazine/ 

Part  1,  v.  5,  pp.  219-223,  April,  1897.  Part  2,  v.  6,  pp.  1-6,  July,  1897. 
Part  3,  v.  6,  pp.  71-86,  October,  1897.  Part  4,  v.  6,  pp.  171-189,  January, 
1898. 

Virginia.  Historical  development  of  education.  Virginia  —  colonial  period. 
Am.  Jouru.  Ed.,  v.  27,  pp.  33-58. 

Walton,  George  A.  Report  on  academies.  Fortieth  annual  report  of  the 
[Massachusetts]  Board  of  Education,  1875-76.  Appendix  E,  pp.  174- 
347.  Boston,  1877- 

A  detailed  account  of  the  Massachusetts  academies,  including  an  article  on 
"New  England  academies  and  classical  schools,"  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Ham- 
mond, A.M.  Separate  sketches  of  over  one  hundred  academies  are  given, 
varying  greatly  in  length  and  fulness  of  detail.  A  number  of  these  sketches 
are  reproduced  in  Barnard's  American  Journal  of  Education,  and  receive 
separate  mention  in  the  third  division  of  this  bibliography. 

Wickersham,  James  Pyle,  LL.D.     A  history  of  education  in  Pennsylvania, 

private  and  public,  elementary  and  higher.     From  the  time  the  Swedes 

settled  on  the  Delaware  to  the  present  day.     Lancaster,  Pa. :  Inquirer 

Publishing  Company,  1886,  pp.  23  +  683. 

This  is  an  important  contribution  to  the  history  of  civilization  in  America. 

Its  chief  defect  is  the  paucity  of  references  to  original  sources  —  which  were 

evidently  used  very  extensively  by  the  author.     Chapters  3,  4,  19,  and  22 

treat  of  secondary  education. 

Willard,  Samuel,  M.D.,  LL.D.  Brief  history  of  early  education  in  Illinois. 
Fifteenth  biennial  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
of  the  State  of  Illinois  (1882-1884),  pp.  xcviii-cxx. 

Wisconsin.  Manual  of  the  free  high  schools  of  Wisconsin.  Second  edition, 
revised,  1894  (Oliver  E.  Wells,  State  Superintendent),  pp.  108. 
Third  edition,  revised,  1900  (L.  D.  Harvey,  State  Superintendent), 
pp.  88. 

8* 


498          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Woodburn,  James  Albert,  Ph.D.     Higher  education  in  Indiana.     Circ.  Inf. 

no.  1,  1891.     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  10,  pp.  200. 

Valuable  and  well -arranged  material  relating  to  secondary  education  is  pre- 
sented in  the  first  five  chapters. 


III.   INDIVIDUAL  INSTITUTIONS 

Abbot  Academy.     Jackson,  Miss   Susannah  E.     Abbot   Female   Academy, 

Andover.     Am.  Jonrn.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  597-599. 
From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76. 

Abbot  Academy.  McKeen,  Philena,  and  McKeen,  Phebe  F.  Annals  of  fifty 
years.  A  history  of  Abbot  Academy,  Aiidover,  Mass.,  1829-1879. 
With  an  introduction  by  Edwards  A.  Park,  D.D.  Andover:  Warren 
F.  Draper,  1880,  pp.  20  +  259. 

Albany.     History  of  the  Albany  High  School.     Albany,  1876. 

Includes  a  description  of  the  new  building  and  an  account  of  the  exercises 
at  its  dedication. 

Albany  High  School.  General  catalog  and  account  of  the  celebration  of  the 
25th  anniversary.  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1894. 

Albany  Academy.     Historical  sketch  of  the  Albany  Academy.     Its  present 

condition.     Albany,  1874,  pp.  6. 

A  reprint  from  the  Albany  Evening  Times  for  June  23,  1874.     The  name  of 
the  author  does  not  appear. 

Albany  Academy.     The  celebration  of  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the 

founding  of  the  Albany  Academy.     Albany,  N.  Y.,  1889. 
Contains  historical  sketch  by  Mr.  Ernest  J.  Miller. 

Bacon  Academy.  Loomis,  Israel  Foote.  Bacon  Academy.  Its  founder  — 
and  some  account  of  its  service.  The  Connecticut  Quarterly,  v.  2,  pp. 
121-139,  April-June,  1896. 

Berwick  Academy.  A  memorial  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
founding  of  Berwick  Academy,  South  Berwick,  Maine,  July  1,  1891. 
Cambridge,  1891,  pp.  15  +  118. 

Bethlehem  School.  Mortimer,  C.  B.  Bethlehem  and  Bethlehem  School. 
New  York :  Stanford  &  Delisser,  1858,  pp.  208. 

Boston.  Semi-centennial  anniversary  of  the  English  High  School,  May  2, 
1871-  Containing  the  poem,  by  Rev.  H.  C.  Waterston,  and  the  ora- 
tion, by  Hon.  J.  Wiley  Edmatids.  With  an  account  of  the  festival 
and  an  historical  appendix.  Boston,  1871,  pp.  112. 


APPENDIX  C  499 

Boston.     Girls  in  the  public  schools  of  Boston.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  13  pp 

243-266. 
A  fairly  complete  history  of  the  Girls'  High  School  in  Boston  up  to  1861. 

Boston.     Memorial  of  the  dedication  of  the  Public  Latin  and  English  High 

Schoolhouse.     Boston,  1881. 

Addresses,   reminiscences,   a  note  on  John  Cotton's   connection  with  the 
origin  of  the  Latin  School,  and  an  account  of  the  new  building. 

Boston.  English  High  and  Latin  Schools,  Boston,  Mass.  A  brief  history  of 
the  schools.  Journal  of  Education,  v.  13,  pp.  134-135.  Boston, 
Mass.,  February  24, 1881. 

Boston.     English  High  School,  Boston,  Mass.,  Catalogue  of  the  scholars  and 

teachers  of  the.     From  1821  to  1890. 

Published  by  the  English  High  School  Association.     Contains  historical 
sketch  by  Thomas  Sherwin. 

Boston  Latin  School.     Catalogue  of  the  Boston  Public  Latin  School,  estab- 
lished in  1635.     With  an  historical  sketch  prepared  by  Henry  F.  Jenks. 
Boston :   Published  by  the   Boston   Latin  School  Association,  1886. 
Historical  sketch,  pp.  6  +  139 ;  catalogue,  pp.  8  +  398. 
This  work,  prepared  under  the  editorial  direction  of  Dr.  Edward  Everett 

Hale,  is  the  best  of  its  class,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes.     It  embodies  the 

results  of  long-continued  and  minute  research;  and  is  especially  rich  in  reprints 

of  original  documents. 

Boston  Latin  Grammar  School,  The.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  12,  pp.  529-560. 
Reproduced,  Idem,  v.  27,  pp.  65-96. 

Boston  Latin  School,  The.     Education,  v.  1,  pp.  499-509,  May,  1881. 

Boston  Latin  School.     Brooks,  Phillips.     The  Boston  Latin  School.     The 

New  England  Magazine,  v.  8,  pp.  681-704,  August,  1893. 
This  is  an  address  delivered  in  1885  at  the  celebration  of  the  250th  anniver- 
sary of  the  founding  of  the  Latin  School.     It  is  found  also  in  The  oldest  school 
in  America. 

Boston  Latin  School.  Jenks,  Henry  F.  The  Boston  Public  Latin  School. 
1635-1880.  (Harvard  preparatory  schools,  nos.  4,  5,  and  6.)  The 
Harvard  Register,  v.  2,  pp.  196-199,  214-217,  and  237-238,  October, 
November,  and  December,  1880.  This  sketch  was  republished  in 
pamphlet  form  (Cambridge,  Mass. :  Moses  King,  1881,  pp.  24). 
It  is  less  full  and  accurate  than  the  Historical  sketch  by  the  same  author  ia 

the  Catalogue  of  1886. 

Boston  Latin  School.  The  oldest  school  in  America.  An  oration  by  Phillips 
Brooks,  D.D.,  and  a  poem  by  Robert  Grant,  at  the  celebration  of  the 
two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the  Boston 


500          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Latin  School,  April  23,  1885.     Boston:  Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Com- 
pany, 1885,  pp.  106. 

This  is  a  delightful  little  volume,  but  its  title  is  misleading.  See  Collegiate 
School. 

Boston  Latin  School.    The  prize  book  of  the  Publick  Latin  School  in  Boston. 

Boston,  1820-1824. 

Nos.  1  (pp.  63),  2  (pp.  59),  3  (pp.  43),  4  (pp.  91),  and  5  (pp.  30).  They 
throw  much  light  upon  the  educational  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  time.  Of 
especial  value  is  the  article,  doubtless  by  Benjamin  Apthorp  Gould,  Some  ac- 
count of  the  free  schools  in  Boston  (no.  4,  pp.  3-56). 

Boston.     Eeport  of  a  sub-committee  of  the  School  Committee  recommending 
various  improvements  in  the  system  of  instruction  in  the  grammar  and 
writing  schools  of  this  city.     Boston,  1828,  pp.  37. 
Recites  in  detail  the  history  of  the  first  high  school  for  girls  in  Boston. 

Bradford  Academy.  A  memorial  of  Bradford  Academy.  Boston :  Congre- 
gational S.  S.  and  Publishing  Society,  1870,  pp.  189. 

Bradford  Academy,  Bradford.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  595-596.  From 
the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  abridged. 

Buffalo.     Cochran,  Clement  H.     Outline  history  of  the  Buffalo  High  School. 

The  Calendar  [Buffalo],  v.  7,  pp.  1-6,  March  17,  1898. 
Other  historical  notes  and  reminiscences  follow  in  the  same  issue. 

Cambridge.     Bradbury,  William  F.     The  Cambridge  High  School,  history 
and  catalogue,  with  its  early  history  by  Elbridge  Smith.     Cambridge, 
Mass. :  Moses  King,  1882,  pp.  94." 
Mr.  Smith's  historical  sketch,  covering  the  period  1847-1856  (pp.  7-12), 

and  Mr.  Bradbury's,  covering  the  period  1856-1882  (pp.  13-44),  are  full  of 

interesting  information. 

Cambridge.  The  Cambridge  High  School.  (Harvard  preparatory  schools, 
no.  3.)  The  Harvard  Register,  v.  2,  pp.  179-180,  September,  1880. 

Carre  and  Sanderson.  Prospectus,  rules  and  regulations,  of  Carre  and  San- 
derson's Seminary.  Philadelphia,  1816,  pp.  16. 

Cazenovia  Seminary.  Eddy,  Lyman  Aldrich.  My  alma  mater  and  its  early 
friends :  with  papers  of  personal,  patriotic,  religious,  and  local  interest. 
New  York :  W.  J.  Hntchinson,  1884. 

Charleston.  Girls'  High  and  Normal  School  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  13,  p.  621. 

Channcy-Hall  School.  Gushing,  Thomas.  Historical  sketch  of  Chauncy- 
Hall  School,  with  catalogue  of  teachers  and  pupils,  and  appendix. 
1828  to  1894.  Boston,  1895,  pp.  216. 


APPENDIX  C  501 

Cheshire  Academy.    Seton,  Samuel  W.     Schools  as  they  were  in  the  United 
States  sixty  and  seventy  years  ago.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  17,  pp.  555- 
560. 
Reminiscences  of  Cheshire  Academy. 

Chicago.  Wells,  W.  H.  Public  High  School  in  Chicago.  Am.  Journ.  Ed., 
v.  3,  pp.  531-536. 

From  the  author's  third  annual  report  as  superintendent  of  public  schools  of 
vhe  city  of  Chicago,  for  the  year  1856. 

Cincinnati,  Hughes  High  School.     The  annual  published  by  the  Society  of 
Alumni  of  the  Cincinnati   Hughes  High   School,   December,   1870. 
Vol.  1.     Cincinnati :  Robert  Clarke  &  Co.,  1870,  pp.  98. 
Prepared  by  a  committee  of  seven  members  of  which  Mr.  Sidney  Omohundro 

was  chairman.     Contains  valuable  historical  notes. 

Cincinnati,  Woodward  High  School.  "  Old  Woodward,"  a  memorial  relat- 
ing to  Woodward  High  School,  1831-1836,  and  Woodward  College, 
1836-1851,  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  Cincinnati  :  Published  by  "  Old 
Woodward"  Club,  1884,  pp.  315. 

Cincinnati.  Woodward  High  School  in  Cincinnati.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  4, 
pp.  520-525. 

Cokesbury  College.  Archer,  Oeo.  W.,  M.D.  An  authentic  history  of  Cokes- 
bury  College,  with  sketches  of  its  founders  and  teachers.  Prepared 
for  and  read  before  the  Harford  Historical  Society.  Bel  Air,  Md.  : 
N.  N.  Nock,  1894,  pp.  25. 

Cokesbury  College.  Steiner,  Bernard  C.,  Ph.D.  Cokesbury  College,  the  first 
Methodist  institution  for  higher  education.  Baltimore,  1895,  pp.  25. 

Collegiate  School.     Dunshee,  Henry  Webb.     History  of  the  school  of  the 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  from 
1633  to  the  present  time.     With  an  introduction  by  Rev.  Thomas 
DeWitt,  D.D.    New  York,  1853,  pp.  120. 
A  second  edition,  revised  and  enlarged  (pp.  20  -f  284),  appeared  in  1883. 

Dade  Institute.  Public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Jefferson  County,  held 
at  Monticello,  Jefferson  County,  Ma.,  July  2,  1839.  Together  with 
a  detail  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  founding  of  the  Dade  Institute. 
Tallahassee,  1839,  pp.  11. 

Decatur,  Illinois.    Gastman,  E.  A.     Notes  on  the  history  of  the  public 
schools  of  Decatur,  Illinois,  from  1851  to  June  30,  1900.     In  Thirty- 
fifth  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  (Decatur,  111.,  1900), 
pp.  43-176. 
Historical  sketch  of  the  high  school,  by  Frank  Hamsher,  pp.  99-105,  with 

lists  of  graduates,  etc. 


502          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Derby  Academy.     Rules  and  regulations  established  by  the  trustees  of  the 

Derby  Academy.  .  .  .  Hingham,  1856,  pp.  36. 

A  pamphlet  containing,  in  addition  to  what  is  indicated  above,  the  text  of 
several  interesting  documents  relating  to  the  history  of  the  school. 

Detroit.     Catalogue  of  the  teachers  and  alumni  of  the  Detroit  High  School. 

.  .  .  Detroit,  Mich.,  1893,  pp.  74. 

This  catalogue  covers  the  time  from  the  date  of  the  establishment  of  the 
school,  1858,  to  January,  1893. 

Dorchester  Grammar  School.     Dorchester  celebration.     250th  anniversary 
of  the  establishment  of  the  first  public  school  in  Dorchester,  June  22, 
1889.     Boston,  1890,  pp.  77. 
Includes  Historical  address  by  William  A.  Mowry,  Ph.D.,  pp.  10-52. 

Dorchester  Grammar  School.  The  original  grammar  school  of  New  England. 
The  free  town  school  of  Dorchester.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  16,  pp.  105- 
108. 

Dummer  Academy,  South  Byfield.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  763-768. 

Compiled  from  the  centennial  address  of  Nehemiah  Cleaveland,  LL.D., 
1863,  and  from  items  furnished  by  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  G.  Parsons.  It  is  taken 
from  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76. 

Dummer  Academy.  Cleaveland,  Nehemiah.  The  first  century  of  Dummer 
Academy.  A  historical  discourse,  delivered  at  Newbury,  Byfield 
parish,  August  12,  1863.  With  an  appendix.  Boston:  Nichols  & 
Noyes,  1865,  pp.  71  +  43. 

Dummer  Academy.  Herrick,  Israel  A.  Dummer  Academy,  South  Byfield 
Parish,  Massachusetts.  Education,  v.  14,  pp.  571-574,  May,  1894. 
Historic  secondary  schools,  first  paper. 

Dummer  Academy.  Exercises  at  the  125th  anniversary  of  Dummer  Acad- 
emy at  Newbury,  Byfield  Parish,  Massachusetts,  June  19,  1888. 
Address  by  Hon.  Wm.  Dummer  Northend.  Salem,  1888,  pp.  61. 

East  Maine  Conference  Seminary.  [Webb,  N.  B.,  Editor.]  East  Maine 
Conference  Seminary  war  record.  Boston,  1877,  pp.  54. 

Erasmus  Hall.  Gunnison,  Walter  B.  Erasmus  Hall.  The  oldest  academy 
in  the  state  [of  New  York]  transformed  into  a  modern  high  school. 
The  Brooklyn  Teacher,  v.  1,  pp.  1-2,  March,  1897. 

Friends'  Academy,  New  Bedford.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  793-794. 

Compiled  from  historical  sketch,  with  catalogue  and  notes,  by  Mr.  John 
Tetlow,  principal.  It  is  taken  from  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76, 
slightly  altered. 

Friends'  Academy.  Historical  sketch  of  the  Friends'  Academy,  prepared 
for  the  centennial  year:  to  which  is  appended  a  presentation  of  the 


APPENDIX  C  503 

course  and  methods  of  instruction  at  present  pursued.     New  Bedford, 
1876,  pp.  73. 

Georgetown  College.  Mclaughlin,  J.  Fairfax,  LL.D.  College  days  at  George- 
town and  other  papers.  Philadelphia,  1899,  pp.  229. 

Georgetown  College.  Memorial  of  the  first  centenary  of  Georgetown  Col- 
lege, D.  C.,  comprising  a  history  of  Georgetown  University  by  John 
Gilmary  Shea,  LL.D.,  and  an  account  of  the  centennial  celebration  by 
a  member  of  the  faculty.  Washington:  Published  for  the  College, 
1891,  pp.  15  +  480. 

Germantown  Academy.  Travis,  Eev.  William.  History  of  Germantown 
Academy :  compiled  from  the  minutes  of  the  trustees.  From  1760 
to  1877,  Edited  by  Horace  Wemyss  Smith.  Philadelphia:  Ferguson 
Bros.  &  Co.,  1882,  pp.  64. 

Girard  College.  Arey,  Henry  W.  The  Girard  College  and  its  founder 
.  .  .  arid  the  will  of  Mr.  Girard.  Philadelphia,  1852,  pp.  85. 

Girard  College.     A  description  of  the  Girard  College  for  orphans.  .  .  . 

Philadelphia,  1848,  pp.  64. 

A  report   by  the  architect,  Thomas  U.   Walter  ;    addresses  by  Nicholas 
Biddle  and  Joseph  R.  Chandler  ;  and  various  other  papers,  are  included. 

Girard  College.  Lieber,  Francis.  A  constitution  and  plan  of  education 
for  Girard  College  for  Orphans,  with  an  introductory  report,  laid 
before  the  board  of  trustees.  Philadelphia :  Carey,  Lea  and  Blanch- 
ard,  1834,  pp.  227. 

Girard  College.  [Rupp,  George  P.,  Editor.}  1848-1898.  Semi-centennial 
of  Girard  College.  Biographical  sketch  of  Stephen  Girard,  his  will, 
and  other  papers  relating  to  the  college.  .  .  .  Philadelphia  :  Girard 
College,  1898,  pp.  182. 

Girard  College.     Westbrook,  Richard  B.,  D.D.,  LL.D.     Girard's  will  and 
Girard  College  theology.     Philadelphia:   Published  by  the  Author, 
1888,  pp.  8  +  183. 
Controversial. 

Guilford,  Miss  L.  T.  The  story  of  a  Cleveland  school,  from  1848  to  1881. 
Written  for  its  pupils.  Cambridge,  1890,  pp.  376. 

Hanover  Academy.     Ford,  Rev.   D.  B.     History  of  Hanover  Academy. 

Boston,  1899,  pp.  221. 

This  history  covers  the  life  of  the  Hanover,  Massachusetts,  Academy,  1808- 
1892.     It  is  rich  in  biographical  notes. 

Hartford.  Barnard,  Henry,  LL.D.  Public  high  school  in  a  graded  system. 
Contributions  to  the  history  of  the  Public  High  School  of  Hartford,  in 
a  letter  to  the  principal.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  28,  pp.  225-25.6. 


504          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Hartford  High  School,  History  of  the.  Journal  of  Education,  v.  20,  p.  167. 
Boston,  September  11,  1884. 

Hartford  Public  High  School,  Triennial  catalogue  of  the.  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  1891. 

Hartford  Female  Seminary  and  its  founder.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  28,  pp. 
65-96. 

Hartwick  Seminary.  Memorial  volume  of  the  semi-centennial  anniversary 
of  Hartwick  Seminary,  held  August  21, 1866.  Albany  :  Joel  Munsell, 
1867,  pp.  201. 

A  large  part  of  this  publication  is  taken  up  with  reprints  of  documents 
relating  to  the  history  of  the  seminary.  The  Historical  address,  by  the  Rev. 
Henry  N.  Pohlman,  D.D.,  pp.  7-41,  is  full  of  interest. 

Haverhill  Academy  and  High  School.  Bartlett,  Albert  L.  The  Haver- 
hill  Academy  and  the  Haverhill  High  School,  1827-1890.  An 
historical  sketch.  Statistics  by  Clarence  E.  Kelley.  Haverhill,  1890, 
pp.  227. 

Hitchcock  Free  High  School,  Brimfield.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  807- 
808. 

From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  altered.  Compiled  from 
a  sketch  by  the  Rev.  Charles  M.  Hyde,  D.D.,  and  items  by  E.  W.  Nor- 
wood, A.M. 

Hopkins  School,  Cambridge.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  745-746. 
From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  abridged. 

Hopkins  Grammar  School,  Hadley.  History  of  the  Hopkins  fund,  grammar 
school  and  academy,  in  Hadley,  Mass.  Prepared  and  published  under 
the  direction  and  authority  of  the  trustees  of  Hopkins  Academy,  1657- 
1890.  Amherst,  Mass.,  1890,  pp.  198. 

A  valuable  work,  full  of  reprints  of  original  documents  and  extracts  from 
public  records. 

Hopkins  Grammar  School,  Hadley.  Judd,  Sylvester.  The  Hopkins  founda- 
tion. The  Hopkins  school  at  Hadley.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  27,  pp. 
145-156. 

Hopkins  Grammar  School,  New  Haven.  The  Hopkins  bequest  at  New 
Haven.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  28,  pp.  275-304. 

Hopkins  Grammar  School,  New  Haven.  Bacon,  Leonard  Woolsey.  An 
historical  discourse  on  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  founding 
of  the  Hopkins  Grammar  School,  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  De- 


APPENDIX  C  505 

livered  before  the  "  Hopkins  Grammar  School  Association,"  July  24, 
1860.     New  Haven,  1860,  pp.  64. 

Very  interesting  and  valuable.  The  text  of  original  documents  is  given  in 
an  appendix. 

Hopkins  Grammar  School,  New  Haven.  The  Hopkins  bequest  at  New 
Haven.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  28,  pp.  275-304. 

Hopkins  Grammar  School,  New  Haven.  The  HopMnsonian.  Edited  in  the 
Hopkins  Grammar  School  by  James  Isham  Gardner,  William  Butler 
Tyler  and  Arthur  Phelps  Callahan.  New  Haven,  Conn.  :  Published 
by  the  Editors,  1896,  pp.  102. 

This  student  publication  contains  much  of  valuable  information  relating 
to  the  life  of  the  school  —  reminiscences  of  old  school  boys,  and  the  like. 

Hopkins  Grammar  School,  New  Haven.  Willard,  H.  K.,  Compiler.  Con- 
tributions to  the  history  of  the  Hopkins  Grammar  School,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  1660  to  1900.  Kept.  Comr.  Ed.,  1899-1900,  v.  2, 
pp.  1281-1296. 

Ipswich  Female  Seminary.  Cowles,  Kev.  John  P.  Ipswich  Female  Semi- 
nary. Am.  Jouru.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  593-594.  From  the  Massachusetts 
report  of  1875-76. 

Ipswich  Grammar  School.  Hammatt,  Abraham.  Ipswich  Grammar  School. 
Extract  from  an  address  delivered  on  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  foundation  of  the  grammar  school  in  Ipswich,  instituted  Jan'y  11- 
21,  A.D.  1650-51.  The  New-England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register,  v.  6,  pp.  64-71,  159-167,  January  and  April,  1852. 
The  greater  part  of  this  extract  is  reproduced  in  the  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  28, 

pp.  134-144. 

Kimball  Union  Academy.  The  general  catalogue  and  a  brief  history  of 
Kimball  Union  Academy,  Plainfield,  (Meriden  P.  O.)  N.  H.  Also  a 
sketch  of  Hon.  Daniel  Kimball,  its  founder.  1815-1880.  Claremont, 
N.  H.,  1880,  pp.  323. 

King  William's  School.     See  St.  John's  College,  Annapolis. 

King  William's  School.  Fell,  Thomas,  Ph.D,  LL.D.  Some  historical  accounts 
of  the  founding  of  King  William's  School.  .  .  .  Annapolis,  1894, 
pp.  114. 

Lawrence  Academy.  Hammond,  Bev.  Charles.  Lawrence  Academy,  Groton, 
Mass.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  2,  pp.  49-60. 

Mr.  Hammond's  sketch  of  Lawrence  Academy,  Groton,  in  the  Massachusetts 
report  of  1875-76,  though  apparently  based  on  this  article,  differs  from  it  suffi- 
ciently to  constitute  an  independent  account. 


506  THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Lawrence  Academy.  The  jubilee  of  Lawrence  Academy,  at  Groton,  Mass., 
July  12,  1854.  New-York,  1855,  pp.  76. 

Contains  a  discourse,  partly  historical,  by  the  Rev.  .lames  Means,  pp.  11- 
41.  Bound  in  with  the  copy  in  the  Library  of  Congress  is  a  Catalogue  of  the 
officers  and  students  of  Lawrence  Academy,  from  the  time  of  its  incorporation. 
Groton,  Mass.,  1855,  pp.  108. 

Leicester  Academy  prior  to  1800.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  28,  pp.  798-800. 
Leicester  Academy,  Leicester.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  777-780. 

From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76.  Sketch  by  E.  A.  Hubbard,  Agent 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  with  extracts  from  the  History  of  the  Academy,  by 
Emory  Washburn,  LL.D. 

Leicester  Academy.     The  centenary  of  Leicester  Academy.     Worcester, 

Mass.,  1884,  pp.  117. 

Contains  historical  address  by  the  Hon.  William  W.  Rice,  reminiscences, 
and  historical  supplement. 

Leicester  Academy.  Washburn,  Emory.  Brief  sketch  of  the  history  of 
Leicester  Academy.  Boston:  Phillips,  Sampson  and  Company,  1855, 
pp.  7  -f  158. 

"  Log  College."  Alexander,  Archibald,  D.D.,  Editor.  Biographical  sketches 
of  the  founder,  and  principal  alumni  of  the  Log  College.  Together 
with  an  account  of  the  revivals  of  religion,  under  their  ministry. 
Princeton,  N.  J.,  1845,  pp.  369. 

Lowell,  Massachusetts.  Whitcomb,  Arthur  K.  The  schools  of  Lowell. 
Historical  sketch.  Lowell  Daily  Courier,  February  24,  1900,  pp.  5 
and  8. 

Contains  considerable  information  relating  to  the  early  history  of  the 
Lowell  High  School. 

Lowville  Academy  semi-centennial    anniversary,  celebrated   at   Lowville, 
N.  Y.,  July  21st  and  22d,  1858.    Lowville:  Published  by  the  Home 
Committee,  1859,  pp.  133. 
Contains  Historical  address,  by  Franklin  B.  Hough,  pp.  51-88. 

Maplewood  Institute,  Pittsfield.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  603-604.  From 
the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  altered. 

Michigan  Military  Academy.  Sudduth,  H.  T.  The  Michigan  Military 
Academy.  The  Interior,  July  23,  1896,  pp.  957-959. 

Milton  Academy.  Thacher,  Thomas.  A  discourse  delivered  at  Milton, 
September  9,  1807 ;  being  the  day  appointed  for  the  dedication  of  the 
academy  in  that  place.  Published  by  request  of  the  trustees  of  the 
academy.  Dedham,  1807,  pp.  23. 


APPENDIX  C  507 

Monson  Academy.  Discourses  and  speeches,  delivered  at  the  celebration  of 
the  semi-centennial  anniversary  of  Monson  Academy,  Monson,  Mass., 
July  18th  and  19th,  1854.  Published  by  the  trustees.  New  York, 
1855,  pp.  90. 

Contains  the  Historical  discourse  by  Charles  Hammond,  pp.  7-40,  and  dis- 
course on  The  relations  of  commerce  to  literature,  by  Richard  S.  Storrs,  Jr., 
pp.  41-73. 

Monson  Academy.     Hammond,  Eev.  Charles.     Monson  Academy,  Hampden 

County,  Massachusetts.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  17,  pp.  563-573. 
This  account  is  reproduced  in  a  somewhat  altered  form  in  the  Massachusetts 
report  of  1875-76. 

Mount  Holyoke  Seminary.    Nutting,  Mary  0.     Mount  Holyoke  Female 

Seminary,  South  Hadley.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  589-592. 
From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  abridged. 

Mount  Holyoke  Seminary.     Stow,  Mrs.  Sarah  D.  (Locke).    History  of  Mount 
Holyoke  Seminary,  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  during  its  first  half  century, 
1837-1887.     Published  by  the  Seminary,  1887,  pp.  12  +  372. 
Chapters  1-3  contain  a  brief  sketch  of  the  earlier  history  of  the  education 
of  women  in  the  United  States. 

Mount  St.   Vincent  Academy.     Brunowe,  Marion  J.     A  famous  convent 

school.     New  York :  The  Meany  Company,  1897,  pp.  153. 
An  account  of  the  Academy  Mount  St.  Vincent-on-the-Hudson  (Sisters  of 
Charity). 

Mount  St.  Vincent  Academy.  A  descriptive  and  historical  sketch  of  the 
Academy  of  Mount  St.  Vincent  on-the-Hudson,  New  York  City. 
1847-1884.  New  York :  D.  Appleton  and  Company,  1884,  pp.  167. 

Mount  Vernon  School.  Abbott,  Jacob.  A  description  of  the  Mount  Vernon 
School  in  1832.  Being  a  brief  account  of  the  internal  arrangements 
and  plans  of  the  institution.  Addressed  to  a  new  scholar.  (Not  pub- 
lished.) Boston,  [1832,]  pp.  72. 

Nazareth  Hall.     Eeichel,  Kev.  Levin  T.     A  history  of  Nazareth  Hall,  from 
1755  to  1855:  and  of  the  reunions  of  its  former  pupils,  in  1854  and 
1855.     Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Company,  1855. 
This  work  has  appeared  in  a  later  and  enlarged  edition  (1869,  pp.  62  -j-  57 

+  20  +  118  +  744-25). 

Newbury  Seminary.  Bailey,  Horace  W.  A  souvenir  of  the  seminary  memo- 
rial window,  including  a  history  ...  of  Old  Newbury  Seminary.  St. 
Johnsbury,  1901,  pp.  101  +  6. 

New  Hampton  Institution.  Catalogue  of  the  officers  and  members  of  the 
Social  Fraternity  of  the  Academical  and  Theological  Institution  at  Kr\v 
Hampton,  N.  H.  Founded  A.D.  1831.  Boston,  1850,  [not  paged.] 


508          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

New  York  Free  Academy.  Addresses  delivered  upon  the  occasion  of  the 
opening  of  the  Free  Academy,  January  27,  1849.  New  York,  1849, 
pp.  39. 

New  York  Free  Academy.  Report  on  the  organization  of  the  Free  Academy. 
N.  p.,  1851,  pp.  24. 

New  York  High-School  Society.  Annual  reports  of  the  trustees  of  the  High- 
School  Society,  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

The  first  of  these  was  issued,  at  New  York,  in  1825.  I  have  seen  them 
through  the  fourth,  issued  in  1828  "pursuant  to  the  act  of  incorporation." 
There  may  have  been  two  or  three  later  numbers. 

New  Salem  Academy.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  789-790. 

From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  abridged.  Compiled  from 
a  sketch  by  E.  E.  Stratton,  M.A. 

Newton.  Fewkes,  Jesse  Walter,  Ph.D.  The  Newton  High  School.  The 
Harvard  Register,  v.  3,  pp.  139-142,  March,  1881. 

Notre  Dame  University.     Lyons,  Joseph  A.,  Compiler.     Silver  jubilee   of 
the  University  of  Notre  Dame,  June  23rd,  1869.    Second  edition.  .  .  . 
Chicago :  E.  B.  Myers  &  Company,  1869,  pp.  344. 
Contains  an  account  of  the  establishment  of  the  Manual  Labor  School 

(1844),  and  of  St.  Mary's  Academy  (1855). 

Norwich  Free  Academy.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  2,  pp.  665-700. 

Norwich  Free  Academy.  The  New  Englander,  v.  15,  pp.  428-447, 
August,  1857. 

Norwich  Free  Academy.  Addresses  delivered  at  the  dedication  of  the  Slater 
memorial  building,  at  Norwich,  Connecticut,  Thursday,  November  4, 
1886.  By  Professor  John  Putnam  Gulliver  and  President  Daniel  Coit 
Gihnan.  Cambridge,  1887,  numbered  pp.  49. 

Norwich  Free  Academy.  Free  Academy  at  Norwich.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  3, 
pp.  191-212. 

Norwich  Free  Academy.  Gulliver,  Eev.  J.  P.  Address  at  the  dedication  of 
the  Norwich  Free  Academy,  Oct.  1856.  The  Weekly  Courier  for  Nov. 
25,  1856. 

Norwich  University.  Ellis,  William  A.,  Compiler.  Norwich  University. 
HOT  history,  her  graduates,  her  roll  of  honor.  Concord,  N.  H.,  1898. 

Oxford  Academy.     Curtis,  Hon.  0.  H.,  Editor.     The  Oxford  Academy  cen- 
tennial ...  at  Oxford,  Chenaugo  County,  N.  Y.,  June  28,  29,  1894. 
Published  by  the  General  Committee,  1895. 
Contains  .Historical  discourse  by  the  editor,  pp.  35-58. 


APPENDIX  C  509 

Oxford  Academy.  The  Oxford  Academy  jubilee,  held  at  Oxford,  Chenango 
County,  N.  Y.,  August  1st  and  2d,  1854.  New  York,  1856,  pp.  132. 

Historical  reminiscences  by  William  H.  Hyde,  Esq.,  pp.  35-62. 
Packer  Collegiate  Institute  for  Girls.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  1,  pp.  579-586. 
Peirce  Academy,  Middleborough.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  791-792. 

From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76. 

Pennsylvania,   University  of.     Montgomery,  Thomas  Harrison.     A  history 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  from  its  foundation  to  A.D.  1770; 
including  biographical  sketches.  .  .  .  Philadelphia :  George  W.  Jacobs 
&  Co.,  1900,  pp.  600. 
Especially  rich  in  biographical  material. 

Pennsylvania,    University  of.     Thorpe,   Francis  Newton,    Ph.D.,    Editor. 

Benjamin  Franklin  and  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.     Circ.  Inf. 

no.  2,  1892,  pp.  450. 

Chapter  2  contains  a  valuable  account  of  Franklin's  ideas  of  education  as 
seen  in  his  writings.     A  bibliography  is  given  in  chapter  27. 

Philadelphia.  Edmonds,  Franklin  Spencer.  History  of  the  Central  High 
School  of  Philadelphia.  Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company, 
1902,  pp.  14,  7-394. 

A  notable  addition  to  the  number  of  our  school  histories ;  an  attractive 
book,  full  of  interesting  information. 

Philadelphia.     The  semi-centennial  celebration  of  the  Central  High  School 
of  Philadelphia.  .  .  .  Published  by  the  Semi-centennial  Committee, 
1888,  pp.  4  +  3-53  +  34. 
Contains  addresses,   historical  sketch  by  George  H.  Cliff,   and  numerous 

portraits. 

Phillips  Academy,  in  Andover,  The  constitution  of.     Andover,  1828,  pp.  15. 

Phillips  Andover.  Bancroft,  Cecil  F.  P.,  LL.D.  Phillips  Academy,  Andover. 
Education,  v.  14,  pp.  629-632,  June,  1894.  (Historic  secondary 
schools,  second  paper.) 

Phillips  Andover.  Coy,  Edward  G.  Phillips  Academy,  Andover.  The 
New  Englander,  v.  44,  pp.  571-586,  July,  1885. 

Phillips  Andover.     Hammond,   Eev.  C.     Phillips  Academy  at  Andover. 

Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  669-776. 

From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  abridged. 
Phillips  Andover.     Park,  Eev.  William  E.     The  earlier  annals  of  Phillips 

Academy.     [N.  p.,  n.  d.],  pp.  51. 
Phillips  Andover.     Thwing,  Charles  F.     Phillips  Academy  at  Andover. 

The  Harvard  Register,  v.  3,  no.  4,  pp.  205-209,  April,  1881. 


510          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Phillips  Exeter.     Bell,   Charles    H.     Phillips    Exeter    Academy   in   New 

Hampshire,  a  historical  sketch.     Exeter,  N.  H.,  1883,  pp.  104. 
Interesting  and  valuable. 

Phillips  Exeter.  Catalogue  of  the  officers  and  students  of  Phillips  Exeter 
Academy,  1783-1883.  Boston,  1883. 

Phillips  Exeter.  Cunningham,  Frank  H.  Familiar  sketches  of  the  Phillips 
Exeter  Academy  and  surroundings.  Boston:  James  11.  Osgood  and 
Company,  1883,  pp.  14  +  360. 

A  very  interesting  volume,  full  of  information,  reminiscence,  and  wholesome 
school  sentiment. 

Phillips  Exeter.  Exercises  at  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  founding  of 
Phillips  Exeter  Academy,  New  Hampshire,  June  20  and  21,  1883. 
Exeter,  N.  H.,  1884,  pp.  83. 

Phillips  Exeter.  Eidder,  Camillus  George.  The  Phillips  Exeter  Academy. 
(Harvard  preparatory  schools,  no.  1.)  The  Harvard  Register,  v.  1, 
pp.  109-111,  June,  1880. 

Phillips  Exeter.  Peabody,  Eev.  Andrew  P.,  D.D.  Phillips  Exeter  Academy. 
New  Englander  and  Yale  Review,  v.  44,  pp.  436-446. 

Port  Chester  Institute.  Starr,  0.  Winthrop.  Historical  sketch  of  the  Port 
Chester  Institute  established  at  Yonkers,  Westchester  Co.,  New  York, 
in  1854.  Removed  to  Port  Chester  in  1874.  .  .  .  [N.  p.,n.  d.],  pp.  16. 

Providence.  A  brief  sketch  of  the  establishment  of  the  high  school,  Provi- 
dence, together  with  the  dedicatory  exercises  of  the  new  building. 
Providence,  1878,  pp.  129. 

Providence.     Hoyt,  David  W.     Relation  of  the  high  school  to  the  com- 
munity.    Education,  v.  6,  pp.  429-441,  March,  1886. 
Relates  mainly  to  the  high  school  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island.     Contains 
interesting  facts  and  statistics. 

Rensselaer  Polytechnic   Institute.     Kicketts,    Palmer  C.     History   of  the 
Rensselaer  Polytechnic   Institute,    1824-1894.      New   York:    John 
Wiley  and  Sons,  1895,  pp.  10  +  193. 
Contains  notes  on  the  relation  of  the  Institute  to  the  work  of  Fellenberg 

and  to  the  later  development  of  experimental  methods  in  this  country. 

Round  Hill  School.  Bellows,  Rev.  Henry  W.,  D.D.  The  Round  Hill  School. 
The  Harvard  Register,  v.  3,  no.  1,  pp.  3-7,  January,  1881. 

Round  Hill  School.  Cogswell,  Joseph  G.,  and  Bancroft,  George.  Pro- 
spectus of  a  school  to  be  established  at  Round  Hill,  Northampton, 
Massachusetts.  [Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  1823],  pp.  20. 

Round  Hill  School.     See  Cogswell,  Joseph  Green,  under  Biography. 


APPENDIX  C  511 

Uoxbury  Latin  School.     Dillaway,  C.  Z.     A  history  of  the  grammar  school, 

or,   "The  free  schoole  of  1645  in  Roxburie."      With  biographical 

sketches  of  the  ministers  of  the  First  Church,  and  other  trustees. 

Roxbury  :  John  Backup,  I860,  pp.  8,  7-202. 

Full  of  excerpts  from  original  documents  ;  and  accompanied  by  a  fac-simile 

of  an  early  contract  with  a  schoolmaster. 

Roxbury  Latin  School.  Dillaway,  Charles  Z.  The  Roxbury  Latin  School. 
(Harvard  preparatory  schools,  no.  2.)  The  Harvard  Register,  v.  2, 
pp.  160-161,  August,  1880. 

Roxbury  Latin  School.     The  Free  School  at  Roxbury.     Am.  Journ.  Ed., 

v.  37,  pp.  121-126. 

Brief  notices  of  the  Free  School  in  Charlestown,  Public  Schools  in  Water- 
town,  Free  School  in  Newberry,  Free  School  in  Duxbury,  and  Grammar  or 
Free  School  of  Ipswich,  follow  on  pp.  127-128. 

Rutland  County  Grammar  School.  Beport  of  the  proceedings  commemorat- 
ing the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  a  chartered 
school,  known  at  different  periods  as  the  Rutland  County  Grammar 
School,  Castleton  Seminary,  and  State  Normal  School,  in  Castleton, 
Vermont.  1787-1887.  Rutland,  1888,  pp.  95  -f  addenda. 
Historical  sketches  and  documentary  material  are  included. 

St.  Francis  Xavier  College.     The  College  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.    A  memorial 

and  a  retrospect.     1847-1897.     New  York,  [n.  d.],  pp.  273. 
Edited  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Chas.  G.  Herbermann,  LL.D.,  John  E. 
Cahalan,  A.M.,  and  John  J.  Wynne,  S.  J. 

St.  John's  College,  Annapolis.  1789-1889.  Commemoration  of  the  one  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  St.  John's  College.  Published  by  the  Alumni 
Association.  Baltimore,  1890,  pp.  175. 

St.  John's  College,  Fordham.  Taaffe,  Thomas  Gaffney.  A  history  of  St. 
John's  College,  Fordham,  N.  Y.  New  York  :  The  Catholic  Publica- 
tion Society  Co.,  1891,  pp.  8  +  154. 

St.  Louis.  Drake,  Charles  D.  Address,  delivered  March  24,  1856,  at  the 
dedication  of  the  first  public  high  school  building  erected  in  the  city 
of  St.  Louis.  St.  Louis,  1856. 

St.  Louis.     Morgan,  H.  H.     The  justification  of  the  public  high  school. 

Rept.  Comr.  Ed.  for  1899-1900,  v.  1,  pp.  629-642. 

Reprinted  from  the  St.  Louis  school  report  for  1876-77.  The  author  was 
principal  of  the  St.  Louis  high  school.  General  arguments  and  particular 
fact's  relating  to  the  St.  Louis  high  school  are  included. 

St.  Mark's  School.  The  consecration  of  the  chapel  and  dedication  of  the 
new  school  building,  October  21,  1891.  With  sermon  and  addresses. 
Cambridge :  John  Wilson  and  Son,  1892,  pp.  66. 


512         THE  MAKING    OF  OUR    MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

St.  Mary's  Academic  Institute.  Souvenir  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary,  or 
golden  jubilee  of  St.  Mary's  Academic  Institute,  St.  Mary  of  the 
Woods,  Vigo  Co.,  Ind.,  (June  24,  1891).  By  a  former  pupil.  New 
York :  Benziger  Brothers,  1891,  pp.  252. 

St.  Paul's  College.  An  account  of  the  grammar  school,  or  junior  depart- 
ment, of  St.  Paul's  College.  New  York,  1842,  pp.  36. 

St.  Paul's  School.  Lamberton,  James  M.  An  account  of  St.  Paul's  School 
[Concord,  New  Hampshire].  Also,  address  delivered  before  the 
alumni  association  of  St.  Paul's  School,  May  26,  1886.  [N.  p.], 
privately  printed,  1898,  pp.  130. 

San  Francisco.  Beport  of  the  committee  on  the  San  Francisco  High  School. 
The  California  Teacher,  v.  1,  pp.  265-270,  May,  1864. 

Scudder,  Horace  E.     A  group  of  classical  schools.     Harper's  New  Monthly 

Magazine,  v.  55,  pp.  562-575,  704-716,  September  and  October,  1877- 

A  highly  interesting  essay,  treating  of  the  following  schools :   The  two 

Phillips  Academies,  the  Adams  Academy  at  Quincy,  the  Boston  Latin  School, 

the  Williston  Seminary  at  Easthampton,  and  St.  Paul's  School  at  Concord, 

New  Hampshire. 

Shattuck  School  (corporate  name,  "The  Bishop  Seabury  Mission"),  Fari- 
bault,  Minn.  Its  history,  its  needs,  and  its  future.  [N.  p.,  n.  d,], 
pp.  32. 

South  Carolina  Military  Academy.  Thomas,  John  Peyre.  The  history  of 
the  South  Carolina  Military  Academy,  witli  appendixes.  Charleston, 
S.  C. :  Walker,  Evans  &  Cogswell  Co.,  1893,  pp.  12  +  579. 

Springfield,  Massachusetts.  Chapin,  Charles  Wells.  History  of  the  "  Old 
High  School"  on  School  Street,  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  from 
1828  to  1840,  with  a  personal  history  of  the  teachers,  also  the  names 
of  265  pupils,  with  their  history  in  part,  with  portraits,  and  a  sketch 
of  the  building.  Springfield,  Mass.,  1890,  pp.  129. 

Thetford  Academy.      Eaton,   General  John,   Editor.     Thetford  Academy, 
Thetford,  Vermont.     Seventy-fifth  anniversary  and  reunion.     Thurs- 
day, June  28,  1894.     Concord,  N.  H.,  1895,  pp.  208. 
The  Historical  discourse,  by  the  Rev.  Carlos  Slafter,  is  included,  pp.  19-49. 

Troy  Female  Seminary.     See  Willard,  Emma,  under  Biography. 

United  States  Military  Academy.  The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 
Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  13,  pp.  17-48. 

United  States  Military  Academy.  Boynton,  Captain  Edward  C.  History  of 
West  Point  .  .  .  and  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  United  States 
Military  Academy.  New  York :  D.  Van  Nostrand,  1863,  pp. 
18  +  408. 


APPENDIX  C  513 

United  States  Military  Academy.  Park,  Boswell.  A  sketch  of  the  history 
and  topography  of  West  Point  and  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy. 
Philadelphia :  Henry  Perkins,  1840,  pp.  140. 

United  States  Naval  Academy.  Benjamin,  Park.  The  United  States  Naval 
Academy.  New  York:  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1900,  pp.  11  +  486. 

United  States  Naval  Academy.  Marshall,  Edward  Chauncey.  History  of 
the  United  States  Naval  Academy,  with  biographical  sketches.  .  .  . 
New  York :  D.  Van  Nostrand,  1862,  pp.  156. 

United  States  Naval  Academy.  Soley,  Professor  James  Bussell.  Historical 
sketch  of  the  United  States  Naval  Academy.  Prepared  by  direction 
of  Rear-Admiral  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers,  U.  S.  N.,  Superintendent  U.  S. 
Naval  Academy,  for  the  Department  of  Education  at  the  International 
Exhibition,  1876.  Washington,  1876,  pp.  348. 

Uxbridge  Academy.  Howry,  William  A.,  Ph.D.  The  Uxbridge  Academy, 
a  brief  history,  with  a  biographical  sketch  of  J.  Mason  Macomber, 
A.M.,  M.D.,  Preceptor.  Boston:  The  Everett  Press  Company,  1897, 
pp.  14  +  151. 

Virginia  Military  Institute  at  Lexington.    Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  23,  pp.  825- 

828. 

Virginia  Military  Institute.     Walker,  Charles  D.     Memorial,  Virginia  Mili- 
tary Institute.     Biographical  sketches  of  the  graduates  and  Sieves  of 
the  Virginia  Military  Institute  who  fell  during  the  war  between  the 
states.     Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  1875,  pp.  585. 
No  general  account  of  the  history  of  the  school  is  given  in  this  book. 

Virginia,  University  of.     Adams,  Herbert  B.,  Ph.D.     Thomas  Jefferson  and 
the  University  of  Virginia.     Circ.  Inf.  no.  1,  1888.     Am.  Ed.  Hist, 
no.  2,  pp.  308. 
Bibliographies  accompany  chapters  14  and  23. 

Visitation  Academy.  Lathrop,  George  Parsons,  and  Lathrop,  Eose  Haw- 
thorne. A  story  of  courage.  Annals  of  the  Georgetown  Convent  of 
the  Visitation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  From  manuscript  records. 
Boston  -.  Houghton,  Mimin  and  Company,  1894,  pp.  13  +  380. 

Washington.     The  Beview  Annual.     Washington  High  School,  1889-'90. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  1890. 
The  first  students'  annual  of  the  school.     Contains  some  historical  notes. 

Western  Female  Seminary.  Memorial.  Twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
Western  Female  Seminary,  Oxford,  Ohio,  1880.  Published  by  the 
alumnae.  Indianapolis,  1881,  pp.  231. 


514          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Westfteld  Academy,  Westfield.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  786-783. 

Compiled  from  historical  address  of  the  Hon.  Wm.  G.  Bates,  on  the  laying 
of  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  building,  July  31,  1857.  It  is  abridged  from 
the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76. 

Westford  Academy.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  781-785. 
From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  abridged. 

West  Newton  English  and  Classical  School.  An  illustrated  biographical 
catalogue  of  the  principals,  teachers,  and  students  of  the  West  Newton 
English  and  Classical  School,  West  Newton,  Mass.,  1854-1893.  In- 
cluding an  account  of  the  re-unions  November  15,  1871,  and  June  21, 
1893.  Compiled  by  a  former  pupil.  Boston:  Rand  Avery  Supply 
Co.,  1895,  pp.  176. 

Westtown  Boarding  School.    A  brief  history  of  Westtown  Boarding  School 
with  a  general  catalogue  of  officers,  students,  etc.     Compiled  chiefly 
from  minutes  of  the  committee  in  charge,  and  the  records  preserved  at 
the  institution.     Third  edition.    Philadelphia,  1884,  pp.  433. 
The  first  edition  appeared  in  1872. 

Westtawn  Boarding  School.     Dewees,  Watson  W.  and   Sarah  B.     History 

of  Westtown   Boarding   School,  1799-1899.      Published  under  the 

auspices  of  the  Westtown  Alumni  Association.    [N.  p.],  1899,  pp.  204. 

Valuable  for  its  account  of  the  ideas  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the 

school,  and  the  glimpses  it  gives  of  school  life  at  different  periods. 

Wheaton  Female  Seminary,  Norton.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  600-602. 
From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  altered. 

Wilbraham  Academy.  Gill,  Rev.  Benj.,  A.M.  Wesleyan  Academy,  Wilbra- 
ham.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  795-798.  From  the  Massachusetts 
report  of  1875-76,  abridged. 

Wilbraham  Academy.  Sherman,  Kev.  David,  D.D.  History  of  the  Wesleyan 
Academy  at  Wilbraham,  Mass.,  1817-1890.  Boston:  The  McDonald 
&  Gill  Company,  1893,  pp.  500. 

William  and  Mary,  College  of.     Adams,  Herbert  B.,  Ph.D.     The  College  of 
William  and  Mary :  A  contribution  to  the  history  of  higher  education. 
Circ.  Inf.  no.  1,  1887-     Am.  Ed.  Hist.  no.  1,  pp.  89. 
Touches  here  and  there  on  secondary  education.     A  full  bibliography  is 

given  in  the  appendix. 

William  Penn  Charter  School.  William  Penn's  Charters  of  ye  Publick  School 
founded  by  Charter  in  ye  Town  and  County  of  Philadelphia  in  Pensil- 
vania,  1701,  1708,  1711.  Philadelphia  [1880?],  pp.  31. 

Williston  Seminary,  Easthampton,  Mass.  Am.  Jouru.  Ed.,  v.  2,  pp.  173- 
175. 


APPENDIX  tf  515 

Williston  Seminary,  Easthampton.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  803-806. 
From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  slightly  altered. 

WilUston  Seminary.  Baccalaureate  sermon,  oration  aiid  addresses  delivered 
at  the  semi-centennial  celebration  of  Williston  Seminary,  Easthamp- 
ton, Mass.,  June  14-17,  1891.  Springfield,  Mass.,  [n.  d.],  pp.  95. 

Williston  Seminary.     Keep,  Kobert  P.,  Ph.D.     Williston  Seminary.     New 

Englander  and  Yale  Review,  v.  44,  pp.  265-279,  March,  1885. 
A  brief  bibliography  is  given  on  the  first  page  of  this  article. 

Williston  Seminary.  Sawyer,  Joseph  H.  [Compiler].  Williston  Seminary, 
Easthampton,  Mass.  Alumni  records  from  1842  to  1874.  Springfield, 
Mass.,  1875,  pp.  366. 

Worcester.  Eoe,  Alfred  S.  Worcester  Classical  and  English  High  School. 
A  record  of  forty-seven  years.  Worcester,  Mass. :  Published  by  the 
Author,  1892,  pp.  167- 

Worcester  Academy,  Worcester.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  799-802. 
From  the  Massachusetts  report  of  1875-76,  abridged. 

Worcester  County  Free  Institute  of  Industrial  Science.    Addresses  of  inau- 
guration and  dedication,  Worcester,  November  11,  1868.  .  .  .  Wor- 
cester, 1869,  pp.  132. 
Contains  memorial  notices  of  John  Boynton,  Esq.,  and  the  Hon.  Ichabod 

Washburn. 


IV.   BIOGRAPHY 

Adams,  John.     The  story  of  John  Adams,  a  New  England  schoolmaster. 

By  M.  E.  B.  and  H.  G.  B.    New  York :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 

1900,  pp.  11  +  275. 

The  story  is  well  told,  and  makes  an  important  contribution  to  the  history 
of  Phillips  Andover  Academy. 

Bailey,  Ebenezer.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  12,  pp.  428-452. 

Contains  an  account  of  the  girls'  high  school  which  Mr.  Bailey  carried  on  in 
Boston  after  the  public  high  school  for  girls  had  been  closed. 

Billiart,  Julia.  Life  of  the  Reverend  Mother  Julia,  foundress  and  first 
superior  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  of  Namur.  Translated  from 
the  French.  With  the  history  of  the  order  in  the  United  States. 
New  York  :  The  Catholic  Publication  Society,  [1871,]  pp.  353. 

Boucher,  Jonathan.  Ford,  Worthington  Chauncey,  Editor.  Letters  of 
Jonathan  Boucher  to  George  Washington.  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. :  His- 
torical Printing  Club,  1899,  pp.  53. 


516          THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Caldwell,   Joseph.     Autobiography  of  Rev.    Joseph   Caldwell,  D.D.,  first 
president  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.     North  Carolina  Uni- 
versity Magazine,  v.  9,  pp.   1-25,  65-93,  August  and   September, 
1859. 
Contains  valuable  notes  on  grammar-school  teaching  in  New  Jersey  just  after 

the  Revolution. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel.     [Barnard,  Henry.]     Biography  of  Ezekiel  Cheever,  with 
notes  on  the  early  free,  or  grammar  schools  of  New  England.     Am. 
Journ.  Ed.,  v.  1,  pp.  297-314. 
This  article  was,  I  believe,  reprinted  in  pamphlet  form.    It  is  reproduced  in 

the  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  12,  pp.  530-549,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  it, 

again,  Idem,  v.  27,  pp.  67-76. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel.  Eldridge,  E.  D.  A  short  sketch  of  the  life  and  character 
of  Ezekiel  Cheever  ...  by  a  lineal  descendant.  [N.  p.],  1900,  pp.  3. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel.     Hassam,  John  T.     Ezekiel  Cheever  and  some  of  his  de- 
scendants.    The  New-England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register, 
v.  33,  pp.  164-202,  April,  1879. 
This  is  the  standard  biography  of  the  great  schoolmaster. 

Cogswell,  Joseph  Green.     The  life  of  Joseph  Green  Cogswell.     Cambridge, 

Mass. :  Privately  printed,  1874. 
Contains  notes  on  the  Round  Hill  School. 

Corlett,  Elijah.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  743-744. 

Grant,  Miss  Z.  P.  Cowles,  Eev.  John  P.  Miss  Z.  P.  Grant  — Mrs.  Wil- 
liam B.  Bannister.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  611-624.  With  some 
account  of  the  schools  for  girls  at  Derby  and  Ipswich. 

Griscom,  John.  Griscom,  John  H.,  M.D.  Memoir  of  John  Griscom,  LL.D., 
late  professor  of  chemistry  and  natural  philosophy  ;  with  an  account  of 
the  New  York  High  School ;  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism ; 
the  House  of  Refuge;  and  other  institutions.  Compiled  from  an 
autobiography,  and  other  sources.  New  York:  Robert  Carter  and 
Brothers,  1859,  pp  427. 

Haley  Nathan.     Partridge,  William  Ordway.    Nathan  Hale,  the  ideal  patriot. 
A  study  of  character.  .  .  .  New  York  and  London :  Funk  &  Wag- 
nails  Company,  1902,  pp.  134. 
The  author  is  the  well-known  sculptor,  whose  statue  of  Hale  is  to  be  the 

lasting  memorial  of  the  patriot  schoolmaster  at  the  home  of  his  alma  mater, 

Yale  University. 

Hammond,  Charles.    Smith,  Elbridge.    Charles  Hammond  and  academy  life. 

Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  18-57. 
Relates  chiefly  to  Monson  Academy. 


APPENDIX  C  517 

Hart,  John  S. ,  Principal  of  the  Philadelphia  High  School.     Am.  Journ.  Ed., 

v.  5,  pp.  91-106. 

A  biographical  sketch,  containing  interesting  notes  on  the  history  of  the 
Philadelphia  school. 

Kingshury,  John,  and  the  Young  Ladies'  High  School.  Am.  Journ.  Ed., 
v.  5,  pp.  9-34. 

Moody,  Samuel.  Samuel  Moody  and  the  Dummer  School.  Am.  Journ.  Ed., 
v.  28,  pp.  785-792. 

Muhlenberg,  William  Augustus.  Ayres,  Anne.  The  life  and  work  of  Wil- 
liam Augustus  Muhlenberg.  New  York :  Harper  &  Brothers,  1880, 
pp.  14  +  524. 

Partridge,  Alden.     Alden  Partridge.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  13,  pp.  49-64, 

683-688. 

An  account  of  his  American  Literary,  Scientific  and  Military  Academy  is 
given  in  the  same  volume,  pp.  65-72. 

Phillips,  John.     John  Phillips.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  6,  pp.  75-80. 

A  biographical  sketch,  with  notes  on  the  history  of  the  Phillips  Academy  at 
Exeter. 

Phillips,  Samuel,  Jr.     Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  6,  pp.  66-74. 

A  biographical  sketch,  with  notes  on  the  founding  of  the  Phillips  Academy 
at  Andover. 

Phillips,  Samuel.  Taylor,  Rev.  John  L.  A  memoir  of  His  Honor,  Samuel 
Phillips,  LL.D.  Boston:  Congregational  Board  of  Publication, 
1856. 

A  very  full  review  and  summary  of  its  contents  is  to  be  found  in  the  N.  A. 
Rev.,  v.  87,  pp.  119-142,  July,  1858. 

Thayer,  Gideon  F.  Gushing,  Thomas.  Memoir  of  Gideon  F.  Thayer.  New 
England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register  for  April,  1865. 

Thayer,  Gideon  F.    Gideon  F.  Thayer.    Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  4,  pp.  613-621. 

Tisdale,  Master,  and  the  Lebanon  School.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  28,  pp.  793- 
797. 

Tompson,  Master.  Sihley,  John  Langdon,  A.M.  Memoir  of  Master  Tompson. 
Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  30,  pp.  747-751. 

Willard,  Mrs.  Emma.     Emma  Willard  and  her  pupils  or  fifty  years  of  Troy 
Female    Seminary,    1822-1872.      New   York:     Published    by  Mrs. 
Russell  Sage,  [1898,]  pp.  895. 
An  attractive  and  highly  interesting  volume. 


518          THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 

Willard,  Mrs.  Emma.  Fowler,  Prof.  Henry.  Educational  services  of  Mrs. 
Emma  Willard.  Am.  Journ.  Ed.,  v.  6,  pp.  125-168. 

Williston,  Samuel.  Tyler,  W.  8.  A  discourse  commemorative  of  Hon. 
Samuel  Williston,  delivered  .  .  .  September  13,  1874.  .  .  .  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  1874,  pp.  85. 


V.  PERIODICALS  —  DEVOTED  TO  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

The  Academy.     A  journal  of  secondary  education.     Issued  monthly  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Associated  Academic  Principals  of  the  State  of 
New  York.    Tols.  1-7- 
George  A.  Bacon,  Publisher,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  Boston,  Mass.,  1886-1892. 

School  and  College.     Devoted  to  secondary  and   higher  education.     Ray 

Greene  Huling,  Editor. 
One  volume  only,  Boston,  January-December,  1892. 

The  School  Eeview.     A  journal  of  secondary   education.     Jacob   Gould 
Schurman  and  Charles  Herbert  Thurber,  Editors  1893-95;  Charles 
Herbert  Thurber,  Editor  1896-1900;  [George  Herbert  Locke,  Editor 
since  1901].     Vols.  1  -  (current  publication). 
Ithaca  and  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  and  Chicago,  111.,  1893-    . 


ADDENDA 

Broome,  Edwin  Cornelius.  A  historical  and  critical  discussion  of  college 
admission  requirements.  Col.  Univ.  Contribs.,  v.  9,  nos.  3-4,  pp. 
157,  April,  1903. 

Brown,  Elmer  Ellsworth.  Secondary  education.  Rept.  Comr.  Ed.,  1903., 
pp.  553-583,  and  issued  separately. 

Hough,  Franklin  B.  Historical  and  statistical  record  of  the  University  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  Albany,  1885,  pp.  5  -f  867. 

Jones,  David  Rhys.  State  aid  to  secondary  schools.  University  of  Cali- 
fornia Publications :  Education,  v.  3,  no.  2,  pp.  47-150,  December, 
1903. 

Pillsbury,  W.  L.  Early  education  in  Illinois.  In  Sixteenth  Biennial  Re- 
port of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  1884-1886,  pp.  civ-cciii. 

Eeport  of  the  Committee  on  College  Entrance  Requirements.  Proc.  N.  E.  A., 
1899,  pp.  632-817,  and  issued  separately. 


APPENDIX  D 


THE    FIRST    PUBLIC    HIGH    SCHOOLS   IN    THE    160 
CITIES  NOW  HAVING  OVER  25,000  POPULATION  * 


Population 
of  City 
1900. 

Date  of 
first  open- 
ing of  a 
Public 
High 
School. 

Date  of  es- 
tablishment 
of  a  regular 
2  to  4  year 
course  in 
the  High 
School. 

Date  when  H.  B. 
began  to  receive 
pupils  by  pro- 
motion upon 
completion  of  a 
6  to  8  year  ele- 
mentary course. 

New  York,  N.  Y.    .    . 

3.437,202 

1849 

1849 

1849 

Chicago,  111.  .... 

1,696,676 

1856 

1856 

1881 

Philadelphia,  Pa.    .     . 

1,293,697 

1838 

1839 

St.  Louis,  Mo.    .     .    . 

575,238 

1853 

1853 

i853 

Boston,  Mass.     .  •  .     . 

560,892 

1634 

.  . 

Baltimore,  Md.  .    .    . 

508,967 

. 

.  . 

, 

Cleveland,  Ohio      .     . 

381,768 

1846 

1846 

1846 

Buffalo,  N.  Y.     .     .    . 

352,387 

1854 

1860 

1861 

San  Francisco,  Cal.    . 

342,782 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

.  . 

Cincinnati,  Ohio     .     . 

325,902 

1847 

1847 

1847 

Pittsburg,  Pa.     .     .    . 

321,616 

1854 

1854 

1854 

New  Orleans,  La.   .     . 

287,104 

1843 

1843 

1843 

Detroit,  Mich.    .     .     . 

285,704 

1844 

1858 

1858 

Milwaukee,  Wis.    .     . 

286,315 

1868 

1868 

1868 

Washington,  D.  C.      . 

278,718 

1877 

1877 

1877 

Newark  N  J.    .     .     . 

246,070 

1854 

1854 

1854 

Jersey  City,  N.  J.   .    . 

206,433 

1872 

1872 

1872 

Louisville,  Ky.   .     .     . 

204,731 

1856 

1856' 

1866 

Minneapolis,  Minn.     . 

202,718 

1865 

1865 

1865 

Providence,  R.  I.    .     . 

175,597 

1843 

1843 

1843 

Indianapolis,  Ind.   .     . 

169,164 

1864 

1864 

1864 

Kansas  City,  Mo.   .     . 

163,752 

1867 

1869 

.  .  . 

St.  Paul,  Minn.  .     .     . 

163,065 

1865 

1865 

1865 

Rochester,  N.  Y.     .     . 

162,608 

1859 

1859 

1859 

Denver,  Colo.      .     .     . 

133,859 

1874 

1874 

1876 

Toledo,  Ohio  .... 

131,822 

1849 

1849 

1850 

Allegheny,  Pa.  ... 

129,896 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

Columbus,  Ohio      .     . 

125,560 

.  .  . 

Worcester,  Mass.    .     . 

118,421 

1824 

1824 

1883 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.      .     . 

108,374 

1855 

1855 

1855 

New  Haven,  Conn. 

108,027 

1859 

1863 

1859 

Paterson,  N.  J.  .     .     . 

105,171 

1854 

1875 

1854 

1  Prepared  (1902)  by  the  Bureau  of  Education,  and  kindly  furnished,  in 
MS.  copy,  for  publication  in  this  work. 


520 


THE  MAKING   OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


Population 
of  City 
1900. 

Date  of 
first  open- 
ing of  a 
Public 
High 
School. 

Date  of  es- 
tablishment 
of  a  regular 
2  to  4  year 
course  in 
the  High 
School. 

Date  when  H.  8. 
began  to  receive 
pupils  by  pro- 
motion upon 
completion  of  a 
6  to  8  year  ele- 
mentary course. 

Fall  River,  Mass.    .     . 
St.  Joseph,  Mo.  .    .    . 
Omaha,  Nebr.    .    .    . 
Los  Angeles,  Cal.  .    . 
Memphis,  Tenn.     .    . 
Scran  ton,  Pa.      ... 
Lowell,  Mass.     .    .     . 
Albany,  N.  Y.     .    .    . 

104,863 
102,979 
102,555 
102,479 
102,320 
102,026 
94,969 
94,151 

1866 
1871 

1870 

1858 
1831 
1868 

i866 
1871 

1870 
1875 
1852 
1868 

i866 

1872 

i870 

1877 
1831 
1869 

Cambridge,  Mass.  .    . 
Portland,  Ore.    .    .    . 
Atlanta,  Ga  
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.  . 
Dayton,  Ohio     .     .     . 
Richmond,  Va.  .     .    . 
Nashville,  Tenn.     .    . 
Seattle,  Wash.    .     .     . 
Hartford,  Conn.      .    . 
Reading,  Pa  
Wilmington,  Del.   .    . 
Camden,  N.  J.    .     .     . 
Trenton   N  J. 

91,886 
90,426 
89,872 
87,565 
85,333 
85,050 
80,865 
80,671 
79,850 
78,961 
76,508 
75,935 
73307 

1838 
1869 
1872 
1859 
1850 
1872 
1855 
1883 
1847 
1852 
1852 
1891 
1874 

1838 
1869 
1872 
1859 
1850 
1872 
1855 
1885 
1857 
1852 
1872 
1891 
1874 

1839 
1869 
1873 
1859 
1850 
1872 
1855 
1883 
1847 
1853 
1872 
1891 

Bridgeport,  Conn.  .    . 
Lynn,  Mass  
Oakland,  Cal.     .     .    . 
Lawrence,  Mass.     .    . 
New  Bedford,  Mass.   . 
Des  Moines,  Iowa.  .     . 
Springfield,  Mass.  .    . 
Somerville,  Mass.   .    . 
Troy  NY... 

70,996 
68,613 
66,960 
62,559 
62,442 
62,139 
62,059 
61,643 
60,651 

i849 
1870 
1849 
1827 
1864 
1841 
1852 
1854 

1852 
1870 
1849 
1827 
1864 
1841 
1858 
1858 

i880 
1870 
1849 
1850 

1887 
1868 
1854 

Hoboken,  N.  J.  .     .    . 
Evansville,  Ind.      .    . 
Manchester,  N.  H.  .    . 
Utica  NY  

59,364 
59,007 
56,987 
56383 

1870 
1854 

1894 

1868 

1870 
1868 

Peoria   III 

56100 

1858 

1858 

1859 

Charleston,  S.  C.    .    . 
Savannah,  Ga.   .     .     . 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  . 
San  Antonio,  Tex.      . 
Duluth,  Minn.    .    .    . 
Erie  Pa     ... 

55,807 
54,244 
63,531 
63,321 
52,969 
52733 

1868 
1853 
1879 
1872 
1866 

i868 
1853 
1879 

1874 
1866 

i868 
1890 
1879 
1876 
1866 

Elizabeth,  N.  J.     .     . 
Wilkesbarre,  Pa.    .    . 
Kansas  City,  Kan.  .    . 
Harrisburg,  Pa.      .    . 
Portland,  Me.     ... 
Yonkers  N.  Y.  .    .    . 

62,130 
51,721 
51,418 
60,167 
50,145 
47,931 

1874 
1890 
1886 
1837 
1821 
1882 

1874 
1890 
1886 
1850 
1821 
1882 

1874 
1890 
1886 
1854 
1821 
1882 

APPENDIX  D 


521 


Population 
of  City 
1900. 

Date  of 
first  open- 
ing of  a 
Public 
High 
School. 

Date  of  es- 
tablishment 
of  a  regular 
2  to  4  year 
course  in 
the  High 
School. 

Date  when  H.  S. 
began  to  receive 
pupils  by  pro- 
motion upon 
completion  of  a 
6  to  8  year  ele- 
mentary course. 

Norfolk,  Va  

46,624 

1858 

1896 

1896 

Waterbury,  Conn.  .     . 

45,859 

1851 

1851 

1851 

Holyoke,  Mass.  .     .     . 

45,712 

1852 

1864 

1866 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind.  .     . 

45,115 

1861 

1861 

1861 

Youngstown,  Ohio 

44,885 

.  .  . 

Houston,  Tex.    .     .     . 

44,633 

1877 

1877 

1878 

Covington,  Ky.  .     .     . 

42,938 

1865 

1865 

1865 

Akron,  Ohio  .... 

42,728 

. 

Dallas,  Tex  

42,638 

i885 

1885 

i885 

Saginaw,  Mich.  .     .     . 

42,345 

.  .  . 

Lancaster,  Pa.    .     .     . 

41,459 

i849 

i849 

1850 

Lincoln,  Nebr.    .     .     . 

40,169 

1873 

1892 

1873 

Brockton,  Mass.     .     . 

40,063 

1864 

1865 

1864 

Binghamton,  N.  Y.     . 

39,647 

1842 

1861 

1861 

Augusta,  Ga.      .    .    . 

39,441 

1875 

1875 

.  .  . 

Pawtucket,  R.  I.     .     . 

39,231 

1855 

1855 

1874 

Altoona,  Pa  

38,973 

1868 

1875 

1876 

Wheeling,  W.  Va.  .    . 

38,878 

1897 

1897 

1897 

Mobile,  Ala  

38,469 

1883 

1883 

1883 

Birmingham,  Ala.  .     . 

38,415 

1883 

1883 

1883 

Little  Rock,  Ark.  .     . 

38,307 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

Springfield,  Ohio    .     . 

38,253 

i856 

1856 

1856 

Galveston.Tex.  .     .     . 

37,789 

1881 

1881 

1881 

Tacoma,  Wash.      .     . 

37,714 

1875 

1883 

1883 

Haverhill,  Mass.     .     . 

37,175 

. 

Spokane,  Wash.     .     . 

36,848 

1885 

1886 

1887 

Terre  Haute,  Ind.  .     . 

36,673 

1863 

1863 

1863 

Dubuque,  Iowa  .     .     . 

36,297 

1866 

1867 

1867 

Ouincy  111 

36,252 

1862 

1862 

1863 

South  Bend,  Ind.    .     . 

35,999 

1868 

1868 

1870 

Salem,  Mass.      .     .     . 

35,956 

1636 

1836 

1877 

Johnstown,  Pa.  .     .     . 

35,936 

1868 

1882 

1890 

Elmira  N  Y 

35,672 

1861 

1861 

1861 

Allentown,  Pa.  . 

35,416 

1868 

1868 

1869 

Davenport,  Iowa    .     . 

35,254 

1859 

1859 

1860 

McKeesport,  Pa.     .     . 

34,227 

1881 

1881 

1881 

Springfield,  111.  .     .     . 

34,159 

1857 

1858 

1858 

Chelsea,  Mass.    .     .     . 

34,072 

1845 

1852 

.  .  . 

Chester,  Pa  

33,988 

1872 

1872 

1872 

York  Pa 

33,708 

1870 

1870 

1870 

Maiden,  Mass.    .     .     . 

33,664 

1857 

1857 

1857 

Topeka,  Kan.     .     .     . 

33,608 

1874 

1874 

1874 

Newton,  Mass.   .     .     . 

33,587 

1859 

1859 

1859 

Sioux  City,  Iowa    .    . 

33,111 

1869 

1876 

1876 

Bayonne,  N.  J.  .     .     . 

32,722 

1880 

1880 

1880 

Knoxville,  Tenn.    . 

32,637 

1875 

1875 

1880 

Schenectady,  N.  Y.     . 

31,682 

1855 

1855 

1856 

522 


THE  MAKING  OF  OUR  MIDDLE  SCHOOLS 


Population 
of  City 
1900. 

Date  of 
first  open- 
ing of  a 
Public 
High 
School. 

Date  of  es- 
tablishment 
of  a  regular 
2  t    4  year 
course  in 
the  High 
School. 

Date  when  H.  8. 
began  to  receive 
pupils  by  pro-- 
motion  upon 
completion  of  a 
6  to  8  year  ele- 
mentary course. 

Fitchburg,  Maes.    .    . 

31,531 

1830 

1849 

1876 

Superior,  Wis.   .    .     . 

31,091 

1889 

1889 

1889 

Rockford,  111.     .    .    . 

31,051 

1867 

1868 

1859 

Taunton,  Mass.  .     .     . 

31,036 

1838 

1838 

1871 

Canton,  Ohio      .    .     . 

30,667 

1864 

1854 

1854 

Butte,  Mont.       .     .    . 

30,470 

1880 

1880 

1880 

Montgomery,  Ala.  .    . 

30,346 

1882 

1882 

1882 

Auburn,  N.  Y.    .    .    . 

30,345 

1866 

1866 

1866 

Chattanooga,  Tenn.    . 

30,154 

. 

. 

.  . 

East  St.  Louis,  111.      . 

29,655 

1874 

1874 

1874 

Joliet  111 

29,353 

1868 

1872 

1874 

Sacramento,  Cal.    .     . 

29,282 

1854 

1897 

1854 

Racine,  Wis  

29,102 

1853 

1853 

1853 

La  Crosse,  Wis.      .     . 

28,895 

1871 

1876 

1871 

Williamsport,  Pa.  .     . 

28,757 

1869 

1869 

1869 

Jacksonville,  Fla.  .    . 

28.429 

1873 

1873 

1873 

New  Castle,  Pa.      .     . 

28,339 

1875 

1875 

1875 

Newport,  Ky.     .     .     . 
Oshkosh,  Wis.    .     .     . 

28,301 
28,284 

1873 
1856 

1873 
1856 

1873 
1856 

Woonsocket,  R.  I.  .     . 

28,204 

1857 

1874 

.  .  . 

Pueblo,  Colo.     .     .     . 

28,157 

1879 

1879 

1880 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J.     . 

27,838 

.  .  . 

Passaic,  N.  J.      ... 

27,777 

1870 

i886 

1871 

Bay  City,  Mich.      .     . 

27,628 

.  .  . 

Fort  Worth,  Tex.  .     . 

26,688 

.  . 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

Lexington,  Ky.       .     . 

26,369 

Gloucester,  Mass.   .     . 

26,121 

isso 

1850 

1850 

•Joplin  Mo 

26,023 

1886 

1893 

1886 

South  Omaha,  Nebr.  . 

26,001 

New  Britain,  Conn.     . 

25,998 

1851 

1872 

1882 

Council  Bluffs,  Iowa  . 

25,802 

1868 

1868 

1868 

Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa    . 

25,656 

.  .  . 

.  .  . 

Easton  Pa     .... 

25,238 

1853 

i854 

1854 

Jackson,  Mich.  .     .     . 

25,180 

1866 

1860 

INDEX 


PREPARED   BY   WILLIAM   WARNER   BISHOP,   CHIEF    CATALOGUER,   PRINCETON 
UNIVERSITY    LIBRARY 

The  following  abbreviations  are  used  in  this  index  :  acad.,  academy ;  gr.  s., 
grammar  school;  h.  s.,  high  school;  B.,  school;  ss.,  schools.  Other  abbreviation! 
are  self-interpreting. 


ABBOT,  Benjamin,  principal  Phillips 
Exeter  Acad.,  198,  244,  258-260. 

Abbot  Acad.,  Andover,  Mass.,  254, 
498. 

Academy  as  a  type  of  school,  152; 

use  of  the  term,  156,  175,  176. 
(For     individual    academies,    see 

names  of  academies  and   names  of 

towns  and  cities.) 

Academies,  American,  in  general,  see 
chaps.  IX.  and  XI.,  passim  ;  in- 
fluence on  American  life,  247 ; 
age  of  pupils  in,  244  ;  curricula, 
231,  232,  236,  237,  249;  rela- 
tions to  colleges,  247,  to  h.  ss., 
314,317-321. 

County  acad.,  Maryland,  218;  In- 
diana, 220,  221  ;  Kentucky,  220. 

Academies,  English,  see  chap.  VIII., 
passim  ;  criticism  and  character- 
istics of,  18th  cent.,  174,  175; 
curricula,  168. 

Academies,  German,  177  f.  n. ;  Scotch, 
177  f.  n. 

Act  of  Uniformity  (English)  of  1662, 
161. 

Adam's  Latin  Grammar,  237,  276; 
Roman  Antiquities,  238. 

Adams,  John,  principal  Phillips  An- 
dover Acad.,  261-263,  515. 

Adams,  Samuel,  quoted,  241. 

Adams  Acad.,  Derby,  N.  H.,  254. 


Addison,  Joseph,  in  Franklin's  Sketch, 
189. 

Adler,  Dr.  Felix,  founder  of  the  So- 
ciety for  Ethical  Culture,  426. 

Adolescence,  relation  to  religious  ex- 
perience, 452 ;  study  of,  410-413, 
415. 

JEneas  Sylvius,  treatise  on  educa- 
tion, 156. 

JEsop,  Fables,  read  in  colonial  gram- 
mar ss.,  130,  132. 

./Esthetics,  study  of,  427. 

Agriculture,  county  ss.  of,  Wiscon- 
sin, 365. 

Aiton,  George  B.,  member  Board  of 
Inspectors  North  Central  Assn. 
of  Colleges  and  Ss.,  391. 

Akron,  Ohio,  graded  school  system 
established  1847,  353. 

Albemarle  County,  Va.,  Miller  Man- 
ual Labor  S.,  338. 

Alexandria,  Va.,  Acad.,  201. 

Algebra,  college  entrance  require- 
ment, 231. 

Study  of,  Amer.  acad.,  237,  238, 
277,  340;  English  acad.,  169. 
171  ;  h.  ss.,  301,  353,  417,  419. 

Alison,  (Rev.)  Francis,  master  Pres- 
byterian Synodal  S.,  New  Lon- 
don, Pa.,  102  ;  head  of  acad.  in 
Philadelphia,  103,  183. 

Allentown,  Pa.,  Acad.,  201. 


524 


INDEX 


Amboy,  N.  J.,  Grammar  S.,  201. 

American  Education  Society,  264. 

American  episcopate,  efforts  to  es- 
tablish, 83,  284. 

American  Historical  Association,  387. 

American  Mathematical  Society,  Chi- 
cago Section,  387. 

American  Philological  Association, 
387. 

Amherst,  N.  H.,  Acad.,  199. 

Amory,  Thomas,  pupil  at  Westmin- 
ster S.  (Eng.),  186,  f.  n. 

Andover,  Mass.,  Abbot  Acad.,  254 ; 
Phillips  Acad.,  see  page  540. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary,  256. 

Angell,  President  James  B.,  413. 

Annapolis,  Md.,  King  William's  S., 
foundation,  56 ;  see  also  St.  John's 
College.  Naval  Academy,  foun- 
dation, 335. 

Apparatus  in  sec.  ss.,  American 
acad.,  233 ;  Franklin's  Propo- 
sals, 180;  made  in  Minnesota 
State  Prison,  367;  private  ss., 
340. 

Aristotle,  in  Milton's  proposed  curri- 
culum, 158. 

Arithmetic,  college  entrance  require- 
ments, 129,  249,  371. 
Study  of,  in  acad.,  237,  238,  277, 
278;  colonial  gr.  ss.,  131,  134, 
180 ;  h.  ss.,  300,  307,  352 ;  writ- 
ing ss.,  19,  27,  134. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  quoted,  440. 

Arnold,  Thomas,  448. 

Ascham,  Roger,  The  Scholemaster, 
156. 

Ashworth,  (Dr.)  Caleb,  master  of 
acad.  at  Northampton  and  Daven- 
try  (Eng.),  172. 

Association  of  Catholic  Colleges  of 
the  U.  S.,  399. 

Association  of  colleges  and  prepara- 
tory ss.  of  the  Middle  States  and 
Maryland,  organization,  380 ; 
resolutions  establishing  college 
entrance  examination  board,  388, 
389,  423. 

Association  of  colleges  and  prepara- 


tory ss.  of  the  Southern  States, 
380. 

Astronomy,  study  of,  in  American 
acad.,  232;  English  acad.,  171; 
h.  ss.,  301,  417,419. 

Athletics.     See  Sports. 

Atkinson,  (Dr.)  Fred  W.,  on  the 
capacities  of  secondary  s.  stu- 
dents, 413. 

Atkinson,  N.  H.,  Acad.,  199. 

BACHE,  Alexander  Dallas,  principal 
Philadelphia  Central  H.  S.,  311, 
430;  report  on  German  ss.,  338, 
344. 

Bailey,  Ebenezer,  promoted  educa- 
tion of  girls,  254,  515. 

Baker,  James  H.,  pres.  Univ.  of  Colo- 
rado, suggested  Committee  of 
Ten,  381. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  City  College,  311; 
Manual  Training  S.,  401 ;  Roman 
Catholic  Theological  Seminary, 
256,  326;  St.  Mary's  College, 
326. 

Bancroft,  George,  founded  Round 
Hill  S.,  Northampton,  Mass., 
339 ;  Naval  Acad.,  founded  while 
he  was  Sec.  of  the  Navy,  335 ; 
student  at  Gottingen,  338. 

Bannister,  (Mrs.)  Wm.  B.  (Miss  Z.  P. 
Grant),  head  of  acad.  for  girls, 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  254,  516. 

Baptist  Church,  promoted  ss.  in  the 
South,  84. 

Barat,  Madame  Madeline,  founder  of 
order  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  329. 

Bardstown,  Ky.,  Roman  Catholic  edu- 
cational centre,  327. 

Barnard,  Henry,  leader  of  movement 
for  h.  s.  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  312 ; 
on  term  academy,  155. 

B*rnard,  (Rev.)  John,  Autobiography 
quoted,  114;  pupil  in  Boston 
Latin  S.,  130. 

Barnes,  Daniel  H.,  associate  principal 
New  York  H.  S.  for  Boys,  307. 

Barney,  H.  H.,  Report  on  the  American 
system,  313. 


INDEX 


525 


Baton  Rouge  (La.)  College,  213. 

Beatty,  Charles,  student  at  the  "  Log 
College,"  118. 

Beaufort,  S.  C.,  Acad.,  202;  s. 
founded  at,  78. 

Beecher,  Catherine,  head  of  Seminary 
at  Hartford,  Conn.,  254. 

Beecher,  (Rev.)  Edward,  pres.  Illi- 
nois College,  222. 

Bell,  Thomas,  benefactor  of  Rox- 
bury,  Mass.,  Grammar  S.,  41. 

Bell,  (Dr.)  Andrew,  294. 

Belleville  (111.)  Acad.,  221. 

Beresford  Bounty  S.;  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  98. 

Berkeley,  (Bishop)  George,  visit  to 
America,  83  f.  n. 

Berkeley,  Wm.,  Gov,  of  Virginia,  re- 
port on  instruction  in  Va.,  49. 

Berwick,  Me.,  Acad.,  200,  498. 

Bethlehem,  Pa.,  Moravian  Seminary, 
201,  498  ;  Theological  S.,  256. 

Bethesda,  Ga.,  Orphan  House,  101. 

Bible,  as  text-book,  20,  131,  226,  236. 
See  also  New  Testament. 

Bingham,  Caleb,  American  Precep- 
tor, 236  ;  Columbian  Orator,  236  ; 
promoted  education  of  girls,  254. 

Bingham  School,  Pittsboro,  N.  C., 
199. 

Bishop,  Nathan,  Supt.  of  Ss.,  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  312. 

Bishop  of  London,  to  grant  certifi- 
cates to  schoolmasters  in  Amer- 
ica, 64  ;  jurisdiction  over  Ameri- 
can church,  63,  93. 

Blackivood's  Magazine,  quoted,  246. 

Blair,  (Rev.)  James,  commissary  of 
Bishop  of  London  in  Virginia, 
82. 

Blair,  (Rev.)  John,  master  of  Fagg's 
Manor  S.,  prof,  at  Princeton, 
118. 

Blair,  (Rev.)  Samuel,  founder  of 
Fagg's  Manor  S.,  118. 

Bloomington,  Ind.,  State  Seminary, 
220. 

Boarding  ss.,  academies  as,  191, 
274 ;  contrasted  with  public  ss., 


448  ff.  ;  English,  155 ;  Roman 
Catholic,  325.  See  also  Episco- 
palian Boarding  Ss. 

Bohemia  Manor,  Md.,  Jesuit  s.,  324. 

Book-keeping,  study  of,  in  h.  ss.,  307, 
353,  354. 

Booth,  James  C.,  instructor  in  Phila- 
delphia Central  H.  S.,  420. 

Bordentown,  N.  J.,  Grammar  S.,  201. 

Boston,  Mass.,  Advertiser,  quoted, 
298. 

Boston,  Mass.,  English  H.  S.,  297- 
301,  303,  304-307,  308,  309,  313, 
498. 

Girls'  H.  S.,  313,  499. 
Latin   S.,  age  of  admission,   125; 
authors     read    in,     130 ;    bibli- 
ography,   499,    500;    Catalogue 
of    1886,    58;   curriculum,   243, 
275,   276;   foundation,   34;   his- 
tory, post-Revolutionary,  274  ff., 
325  ;  length  of  course,  133,  275  ; 
studies,  131,  132. 
School  buildings,  141. 
School  system,  1 99,  295. 

Botany,  study  of,  in  secondary  ss., 
254. 

Boucher,  (Rev.)  Jonathan,  Rector  at 
Annapolis,  Md.,  106,  119,  120; 
life,  119.  515;  quoted,  167  f.  n. 

Boutwell,  George  S.,  Educational 
Topics  and  Institutions,  quoted, 
318-321. 

Bowdoin,  James,  pupil  Boston  Latin 
S.,  116. 

Bowes,  John,  pupil  of  John  Frank- 
land  at  Rathmill,  Eng.,  162. 

Bradford  (Mass.)  Acad.,  253,  500. 

Bradley 's  Prosody,  277. 

Brant,  Joseph,  pupil  in  Moor'.s  In- 
dian Charity  S.,  93. 

Bray,  (Rev.)  Thomas,  Commissary  of 
"the  Bishop  of  London  in  Mary- 
land, 82. 

Brinsley,  John,  The  Grammar 
Schoole,  19  ff.,  29,  30 ;  Consola- 
tion for  our  grammar  schools,  59. 

Brook  Farm,  336. 

Brooks,  S.  D.,  prof.  Univ.  of  Illinois. 


526 


INDEX 


member  Board  of  Inspectors, 
North  Central  Assn.  Colleges 
and  8s.,  391. 

Brooks,  Phillips,  great-grandson  of 
Judge  Phillips,  195  f.  n. ;  Oration 
on  Boston  Latin  S.,  110,  115. 

Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools, 
educational  work  in  America, 
328. 

Brougham,  Lord,  on  Edinburgh  H. 
S.,  310  f.  n. 

Brown, — ,  prof.  Univ.  of  Iowa,  mem- 
ber Board  of  Inspectors,  North 
Central  Assn.  of  Colleges  and 
Ss.,  391. 

Brown  University,  Providence,  B.  I., 
foundation,  101,  147. 

Bryant,  Wm.  C.,  247. 

Buchanan,  John  T.,  principal  De 
Witt  Clinton  H.  S ,  New  York 
City,  407. 

Burlington,  N.  J.,  Acad.,  201. 

Buruham,  Dr.  Wm.  H.,  on  the  psy- 
chology of  adolescence,  411-412. 

Burns,  (Rev.)  J.  A.,  urged  Roman 
Catholic  h.  ss.,  399. 

Burns,  Robert,  337. 

Burr,  (Rev.)  Aaron,  master  classical 
s.,  Newark,  N.  J.,  95 ;  pres. 
Princeton  College,  95. 

Burr,  Aaron,  cousin  of  Timothy 
Dwight,  267. 

Bushnell,  Horace,  leader  in  move- 
ment for  h.  s.  in  Hartford, 
Conn.,  312. 

Butler,  Joseph  (Bishop  of  Durham), 
student  at  Gloucester  Acad., 
167. 

Butler,  Nicholas  Murray,  pres. 
Columbia-  Univ.,  advocate  of 
College  Entrance  Examination 
Board,  388. 

CAESAR,  study  of,  in  acad.,  237,  272, 
277;  in  colonial  secondary  ss., 
131,  132 ;  required  for  entrance 
to  Columbia  College,  1785,  231. 

Cahill  H.  S.,  Philadelphia,  founda- 
tion, 399. 


Caldwell,  (Rev.)  David,  master  classi- 
cal s.,  Guilford  Co.,  N.  C.,  99. 

Caldwell,  (Rev.)  Joseph,  Autobiog- 
raphy quoted,  272. 

Calhoun,  James,  aided  Geo.  McDuffie 
at  South  Carolina  College,  271. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  pupil  of  Moses 
Waddel  at  Willington,  S.  C., 
271. 

Calhoun,  Wm.,  assisted  Geo.  McDuffie 
at  Willington,  S.  C.,  271. 

California,  School  System  of,  215, 
354,  367,  489,  490;  University 
of,  accrediting  system,  374,  375. 

California  S.  of  Mechanical  Arts, 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  402. 

Calvary  Acad.,  Bardstown,  Ky., 
founded,  327. 

Calvin,  John,  quoted,  436. 

Calvinism,  influence  on  secondary 
education,  8  ff.,  62,  63. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  Gr.  S.,  foundation, 
40;  H.  S.,  500. 

Cambridge,  S.  C.,  College,  202. 

Carey,  George,  pupil  of  Moses  Wad- 
del  at  Willington,  S.  C.,  271. 

Carroll,  Charles,  pupil  in  Jesuit  S., 
Bohemia  Manor,  Md.,  324. 

Carroll,  John,  Bishop  of  Baltimore, 
established  Georgetown  Acad., 
324-326. 

Carter,  Robert,  school  house  on  his 
estate  in  Westmoreland  Co.,  Va., 
142. 

Cartwright,  (Rev.)  Peter,  suggested 
foundation  of  McKendreean 
College,  222. 

Cass,  Lewis,  pupil  at  Phillips  Exeter 
Acad.,  198,  249,  259,  260. 

Catholic.     See  Roman  Catholic. 

Catholic  University  of  America, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  foundation, 
399. 

Cato,  Distichia,  read  in  ss,  131,  135, 
153,  158. 

Celestial  mechanics,  study  of,  in 
English  acad.,  171. 

Celsus,  in  Milton's  proposed  curric- 
ulum, 158. 


INDEX 


527 


Charity  S.,  Philadelphia.  See  Phila- 
delphia, Public  Acad. 

Charles  the  Great  (Charlemagne),  his 
active  interest  in  education,  60. 

Charles  City,  Va.,  "  East  Indy  S.," 
32. 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  Acad.,  202  ;  Beres- 
ford  Bounty  S.,  98;  Citadel  S., 
337 ;  Cotes'  Classical  S.,  339. 
Gr.   S.,   foundation,   96 ;  corpora- 
tion, 150. 

Charlestown,  Mass.,  Gr.  S.,  founda- 
tion, 37. 

Charlestown,  N.  H.,  Acad.,  199. 

Charlotte,  N.  C.,  Liberty  Hall  Acad., 
99  ;  Queen's  College,  99. 

Chauncy  Hall  S.,  Boston,  Mass., 
340,  500. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel,  life,  110-115,  448; 
bibliography  of,  516;  master 
Boston  Latin  S.,  36 ;  master 
Charlestown  Gr.  S.,  38  ;  master 
Ipswich  Gr.  S.,  38 ;  master  New 
Haven  Gr.  S.,  44;  his  Latin 
Accidence,  130,  152. 

Chemistry,  study  of,  in  Amer.  acad., 
233,  238,  254 ;  in  h.  ss.,  419. 

Chicago,  111.,  H.  S.,  313,  601  ;  Manual 
Training  S.,  401. 

Childsbury,  S.  C.,  Free  S.,  founda- 
tion, 98. 

Church  and  state,  separation  of,  81, 
204. 

Church  of  England,  control  of  ss., 
62  ;  missionary  work  in  America, 
18th  cent.,  81. 

Churchill,  Winston,  portrayal  of  edu- 
cational conditions  in  Richard 
Carrel,  109. 

Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius,  read  in  ss., 
128,  129,  130,  132,  137,  246,  277  ; 
required  for  entrance  to  Colum- 
bia College,  1755,  231. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Hughes  H.  S  ,  313, 
501  ;  Woodward  H.  S.,  313,  501. 

Citizenship,  education  for,  437. 

Civics,  study  of,  in  h.  ss.,  318. 

Clap,  Thomas,  pres.  Yale  College, 
281-283,  351  f.  n. 


Clarke's  Introduction  to  writing  Latin, 
132,  231,  265. 

Classics,  ancient,  college  entrance 
requirement  before  1800,  128, 
231 ;  methods  of  instruction  in, 
424 ;  position  in  curriculum,  441- 
442. 

Study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  182, 
183,  188,  191,  195,  205,  231,  246, 
263,  265;  in  gr.  ss.,  37,  43, 
51,  55,  94,  97,  99,  104,  112, 
130,  132,  133,  241,  272,  275-276; 
in  English  acad.,  158,  160,  163, 
168,  170.  See  also  Greek  lan- 
guage ;  Latin  language. 

Clergymen  as  tutors,  1 19. 

Clinton,  DeWitt,  Gov.  of  New  York, 
urged  adoption  of  Lancasterian 
methods  by  N.  Y.  state,  305. 

Clinton  Acad.  (Long  Island),  N.  Y., 
199. 

Co-education,  240,  244,  245,  251,  252, 
253,  268,  400 ;  collegiate,  255. 

Cogswell,  Joseph  Green,  founder  of 
Round  Hill  S.,  Northampton, 
Mass.,  339,  516 ;  student  at  Got- 
tingen,  338. 

Coit,  (Rev.)  Henry  Augustus,  first 
rector  St.  Paul's  S.,  Concord, 
N.  H.,  395,  431. 

Cokesbury  College,  Abingdon,  Md., 
agriculture  instead  of  play, 
336  f.  n.,  501. 

Colchester,  Conn.,  Bacon  Acad.,  318. 

Colet,  John,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's, 
founder  of  St.  Paul's  S.,  Lon- 
don, Eng.,  12,  28  ;  quoted,  17. 

College  Entrance  Examination  Board 
of  the  Middle  States  and  Mary- 
land, organization,  389,  413,  465. 

Colleges,  American,  in  general,  225, 

280. 

Administration   of,   Amer.,  145  f., 

279,  285,  288,  289;  English,  144. 

Entrance  examinations,  371  f.,  380, 

388,  392. 

Entrance  requirements,  in  general, 
L>.fJl  f.,  870,  371-373,  383,  385, 
386,  387,  442-443  ;  Harvard,  128, 


528 


INDEX 


423;    Princeton,    129;    William 
and  Mary,  129  ;  Yale,  129  ;  uni- 
form, 388-390. 
For  women,  329,  330. 
Non-classical  courses,  248,  372. 
Relations    to    sec.     ss.,     colonial 
period,  37,  57,  89,  90,  92  ;  before 
1865,  230  f.,  247,  249,  250;  since 
1865,  370-379,380,  385-386,  388, 
442. 

Accrediting  systems  for  entrance, 
in  general,  374-376,  390-391  ; 
California,  374-376 ;  Indiana, 
378-379;  Michigan,  373,  374, 
376 ;  Missouri,  377. 

Colorado.  School  System,  bibl.,  490, 
491,496. 

Columbia  University  (Columbia  Col- 
lege, King's  College),  New  York, 
N.  Y.,  83,  94,  209,  347 ;  contro- 
versy over  incorporation,  283, 
286,  288-289,  291  ;  entrance  re- 
quirements, 231,  247  ;  scientific 
course  at,  248;  Gr.  School  of, 
95  ;  Teachers'  College,  429. 

Columbia,  S.  C.,  Arsenal  S.,  334. 

Columella,  in  Milton's  proposed  cur- 
riculum, 158. 

Commercial  education,  secondary, 
404-405. 

Commission  of  Colleges  in  New 
England  on  Secondary  Educa- 
tion, 380,  386. 

Commissioner  of  Education  (U.  S.), 
Reports,  quoted,  373,  417,  418. 

Concord,  N.  H.,  Acad.,  199;  St. 
Paul's  S.,  395. 

Condorcet,  M.  J.  A.,  influence  on  the 
form  of  Univ.  of  France,  210  f.  n. 

Conic  sections,  study  of,  English 
acad.,  171. 

Connecticut  (Colony),  act  provid- 
ing for  support  of  ss.,  1650, 
72 ;  gr.  ss.,  early,  44-48 ;  School 
system,  92-93. 

(State),  h.  s.  movement,  312,  367; 
School  system,  200,  224,  352, 
488,  490,  496. 

Convent  ss.  for  girls,  255, 326,  327, 329. 


Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  247. 

Cooper,  Myles,  pres.  Columbia  Col- 
lege, 288. 

Cooper  Institute,  New  York  City, 
403. 

Copeland,  Patrick,  promoter  of  the 
East  Indy  S.  in  Va.,  33,  34  f.  n. 

Corderius,  Colloquia,  read  in  colonial 
gr.  ss.,  22,  130,  132,  272. 

Corlett,  Elijah,  master  Cambridge 
(Mass.)  Gr.  S.,  40,  70,  516. 

"  Corporation."  See  Colleges,  admin- 
istration; Schools,  administra- 
tion. 

Correlation  of  studies,  Report  of  Com- 
mittee of  Ten,  382. 

Cotes,  Christopher,  master  classical 
s.  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,  339,  340. 

Cotton,  (Rev.)  John,  supported  Bos- 
ton Latin  S.»  36. 

Cousin,  Victor,  influence  of  the  Eng- 
lish translation  of  his  report  on 
Prussian  ss.,  338. 

Cowper,  Wm.,  The  Task,  studied  in 
Amer.  acad.,  235. 

Cradock,  Samuel,  master  at  Wick- 
hambrook,  Eng.,  169. 

Crawford,  Wm.  H.,  pupil  of  Moses 
Waddel,  271. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  established  college 
at  Durham,  161. 

Crouch,  Ralph,  master  of  a  gr.  s.  in 
Maryland,  56. 

Crozet,  Claude,  first  prof,  of  engi- 
neering at  West  Point,  332. 

Culture,  liberal,  keynote  of  Amer. 
colleges  and  acad.,  229  ;  influ- 
ence of,  on  education  of  girls, 
255. 

Curricula  of  secondary  ss.,  colonial, 
1 28  f .  See  also  Academies ;  High 
Schools,  curricula. 

Curtius,  Alexander  Carolus,  rector 
first  gr.  s.,  New  York  City,  52. 

Gushing,  Caleb,  speaker  at  meeting 
in  honor  of  Dr.  Abbott,  Exeter, 
N.  H.,  260. 

Custis,  John  Parke,  pupil  of  Jonathan 
Boucher,  120;  correspondence  of 


INDEX 


529 


Washington  regarding  him,  121- 
123. 

Cyrus,  Travels  of,  in  English,  in 
Franklin's  Sketch,  189. 

"  DAME  "  Ss.,  243. 

Dana's  Latin  Tutor,  277. 

Dartmouth  College,  corporation, 
147  f.  n.,  289-291;  foundation, 
91,  93. 

Dartmouth  College  Case,  283,  289, 
290,  292,  293,  296,  319. 

Davidson  A  cad.,  Nashville,  Tenn., 
foundation,  219. 

Dayton,  Ohio,  school  system  estab- 
lished, 1848,  353. 

Debating  clubs,  244,  432. 

"  December  Conference,"  Berlin, 
1890,  464. 

Declamation,  in  Amer.  acad.,  235, 
237,  238,  265;  in  h.  ss.,  300, 
301,  307. 

Defoe,  Daniel,  life,  178  ;  project  of 
a  military  acad.  realized  in  West 
Point,  331 ;  pupil  at  Mr.  Mor- 
ton's acad.,  175  ;  use  of  word 
"academy,"  175;  Essay  on  pro- 
jects, 1 65  ;  Present  state  of  parties, 
quoted,  163. 

De  La  Salle  Acad.,  New  York  City, 
foundation,  328. 

Delaware  (Colony),  School  System, 
103;  (State),  do.,  225,  494. 

Democracy,  growth  of,  in  America, 
348  ;  relations  to  education,  455- 
457. 

Denmark  (la.)  Acad  ,  223. 

Derby  (Mass.)  Acad.,  199. 

Derby  S.,  Hingham,  Mass.,  200, 
502. 

Derry,  N.  H.,  Adams  Acad.,  254. 

Detroit,  Mich.,  H.  S.,  313,  502. 

Dewey,  (Admiral)  George,  educated 
at  Norwich  Univ.,  333. 

Dewey,  Prof.  John,  quoted,  436. 

Dexter, ,  quoted,  108. 

Dickinson,  Jonathan,  master  classi- 
cal s.,  Elizabethtown,  N.  J., 
pres.  Princeton  College,  95. 


Diderot,  Denis,  influence  of  his  Plan 
of  a  university  on  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Univ.  of  France,  205, 
210. 

Dilworth's  Spelling  Book,  131. 

Dionysius'  Periegesis,  studied  in 
Tewkesbury  Acad.,  168. 

Disciples'  Church,  formation  of,  239. 

Doddridge,  (Rev.)  Philip,  master 
acad.  at  Northampton,  Eng.,  169, 
170,  171,  176,  178,  193;  Family 
Expositor,  262  ;  System  of  Divin- 
ity, 171. 

Domestic  economy,  county  SB.  of,  in 
Wisconsin,  365. 

Domestic  science,  367. 

Doolittle, ,  master  acad.  in  Isling- 
ton, Eng.,  169. 

Dorchester,  Mass.,  Gr.  S.,  early  his- 
tory, 39,  70, 148,  502 ;  foundation 
38;  government  of,  1645,  136. 

Dorchester,  S.  C.,  Free  S.,  founda- 
tion, 93. 

Dormitories  in  acad.,  201,  244. 

Douglass,  John,  first  master  of  Gram- 
mar S.,  Charleston,  S.  C.,  96. 

Dove,  David  James,  English  master 
Philadelphia  Acad.,  181  ;  in 
Mitchell's  Hugh  Wynne,  109. 

Dramatic  performances  in  acad.,  245. 

Drawing,  in  secondary  SB.,  acad., 
191;  h.  ss.,  307,  354;  Frank- 
lin's Proposals,  1 80. 

Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia,  404. 

Dubuque,  la.,  branch  of  state  univer- 
sity, 223. 

Dummer,  Wm.  (Lieut.-Gov.  of  Mass.), 
founder  of  gr.  s.  at  Newbury, 
91,  92. 

Dummer  Acad.,  Newbury,  Mass.,  92, 
200. 

Dummer  S.,  Byfield,  Mass.,  193,  502. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  career,  266-269; 
made  acad.  at  Greenfield  Hill 
co-educational,  253;  pres.  Yale 
College,  248;  principal  Green- 
field Hill  Acad.,  249;  poem, 
Greenfield  Hill,  quoted,  269. 


34 


530 


INDEX 


EAST  IKDT  S.,  Charles  City,  Va.,  33. 

Eaton,  Thomas,  founder  of  a  gr.  s. 
in  Virginia,  49. 

Eaton's  Charity  S.,  99. 

Eau  Claire,  Wis.,  Manual  Training 
S.,401. 

Ecclesiastical  control  of  ss.,  230,  255, 
324-331 ;  opposition  to,  342-343. 

Edinburgh  (Scotland)  H.  S.,  304,  305, 
398-410. 

Edwards,  B.  B.,  Sec.  American  Edu- 
cation Society,  quoted,  224-225, 
226. 

Edwards,  (Rev.)  Jonathan,  grand- 
father of  Timothy  Dwight,  266  ; 
quoted,  88 ;  relations  to  English 
Nonconformists,  176  ;  started  the 
"  Great  Awakening,"  86,  105. 

Elbridge,  N.  Y.,  Monroe  Acad.,  263. 

Elective  courses  in  secondary  ss., 
384-385,  387,  439. 

Elementary  ss.,  Amer.,  294,  295,  299, 
328,  409  ;  English,  144,  294. 

Eliot,  Charles  Wm.,  pres.  Harvard 
University,  advocate  of  uniform 
requirements  for  college  en- 
trance, 389 ;  chairman  Com- 
mittee of  Ten,  381. 

Eliot,  John,  the  "  Apostle  to  the 
Indians,"  42,  114f.  n. 

Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  Acad.,  201  ; 
Classical  S.,  95;  Gr.  S.,  96. 

Elkton,  Pa.,  S.  of  the  synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, 103. 

Emerson,  George  Barrell,  master 
English  Classical  S.,  Boston, 
Mass.,  301. 

Emerson,  (Rev.)  Joseph,  his  semi- 
nary at  Byfield  and  Saugus,  254. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  pupil  at 
Boston  Latin  S.,  274 ;  quoted,  275. 

Emmitsburgh,  Md.,  Girls'  S.  of  Sis- 
ters of  Charity,  327. 

English  grammar  ss.,  16th  and  17th 
centuries,  chap.  II.,  passim ;  cur- 
ricula, 20  f . 

English  language,  Composition,  col- 
lege entrance  requirement,  371  ; 
place  of  the  study  of,  439. 


English  language  —  continued. 

Study  of,  in  acad.,  191,  232,  233, 

238,   253;    in    gr.   as.,  colonial, 

133;    in   h.  ss.,   300,  301,  307, 

352. 
Franklin's    Proposals,     180;     do. 

Sketch,  189. 
English  language,  Grammar,  college 

entrance  requirement,  231. 
Study  of,  in  acad.,  234,  237,  238, 

342  ;  in  girls'  ss.,  253  ;  in  h.  ss., 

352. 
English  literature,  college  entrance 

requirement,  372  ;    methods  of 

teaching,  422-423  ;  study  of,  in 

h.  ss.,  300,  418. 

Episcopal  control  of  ss.,  61,  62. 
Episcopalian  boarding  ss.,  331,  394- 

397. 

Episcopalianism,  81  f. 
Erasmus,  Desiderius,  16,  156. 
Erasmus  Hall,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  199, 

502. 

Ethical  Culture,  Society  for,  426. 
Ethics,  instruction   in,   proposed  in 

Franklin's  Sketch,  189. 
Study  of,  in  acad.,  232 ;  in  h.  ss., 

352, 426,  427  ;  in  Girard  College, 

343. 

Eton  (Eng.)  S.,  260. 
Eutropius,   read  in    colonial  gr.  ss., 

132,  153. 

Evening  h.  ss.,  401. 
Everett,  Edward,  198,  260,  338. 
Exeter,  N.    H.,  Phillips   Acad.     See 

Phillips  Exeter  Acad. 
"  Exhibitions,"  in  acad.,  245. 
Experiments.    See  Laboratory  meth- 
ods. 

FAGG'S  Manor  S.,  118. 

Fairfield,  la.,  branch  of  State  Univ., 
223. 

Faneuil,  Peter,  letter  to  England  in- 
quiring for  a  clerk,  186  f.  n. 

Faribault,  Minn.,  Shattuck  S.,  397, 
512. 

Farmington,  Conn.,  H.  S.,  founda- 
tion, 352. 


INDEX 


531 


Fellenberg,  Philip  Emanuel,  founder 
of  Hofwyl  Institute,  335,  336, 
346. 

Fenelon,  Abbe,  Telemachus,  study  of, 
in  English,  Franklin's  Sketch, 
189. 

Finley,  (Rev.)  Samuel,  master  acad. 
at  Nottingham,  Md.,  100;  pres. 
Princeton  College,  100, 118. 

Fisk,  (Rev.)  John,  master  Salem 
(Mass.)  S.,  38. 

Fiske,  Catherine,  head  of  acad.  for 
girls,  Keene,  N.  H.,  254. 

Fithiau,  Philip  Vickers,  chaplain  in 
Continental  army,  122;  tutor  in 
family  of  Robert  Carter  of  Vir- 
ginia, 119;  Journal  and  Letters, 
quoted,  142. 

Five  Mile  Act  (English),  162. 

Florida,  School  System,  223,489. 

Flower,  Enoch,  master  at  Philadel- 
phia, 1683,  74. 

Flushing  Institute.  See  St.  Paul's 
College. 

Forbes,  S.  A.,  prof.  Univ.  of  Illinois, 
suggested  commission  on  ac- 
credited ss.,  390. 

"Formal  discipline,"  385  f.  n. 

Forms,  colonial  grammar  ss.,  139. 

Fouillee,  Alfred,  454,  457. 

Fourcroy,  his  knowledge  of  the  Univ. 
of  New  York,  210  f.  n. 

Fowle,  W.  B.,  editor  of  "  Schools  of 
the  olden  time  in  Boston," 
Common  SchoolJournal ,  vol.  XII., 
131  f.  n. 

France,  influence  of,  on  American 
education,  204,  209,  210  f.  n. 

France,  University  of,  210  f.  n. 

"  Frankfort  plan,"  465. 

Frankland,  Richard,  head  of  college 
at  Durham,  and  of  acad.  at 
Rathmill  (Eng.),  161. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  attended  Boston 
Latin  S.,  140;  Defoe's  influence 
on  him,  156,  175;  friendship  for 
Dr.  Priestley  1 72 ;  founder  of 
Philadelphia'PulHic  Acad.,  180  f; 
showed  need  of  teachers  for  ele- 


mentary ss.,  250;  use  of  term 
"academy,"  156;  Autobiography, 
quoted,  87  ;  Project  of  an  acad- 
emy, 156;  Proposals,  etc.,  126; 
Sketch  of  an  English  school,  188- 
189,  234,  423. 

Franklin  College,  Ga.  See  Georgia, 
University  of. 

Fredericksburg,  Va.,  Acad.,  99. 

Free  Academy,  term,  301-302. 

"Free"  ss.,  31,  143. 

Freehold,  N.  J.,  Acad.,  201. 

French,  (Rev.)  Jonathan,  196. 

French    language,   college    entrance 

requirement,  248. 

Study  of,  in  acad.  at  Northamp- 
ton, Eng.,  171 ;  in  Amer.  acad.. 
191,  340;  in  Franklin's  Pro- 
posals, 182;  in  Girard  College, 
345;  in  h.  ss.,  355,  417,  419. 

Friends,  Society  of.     See  Quakers. 

Fryeburg,  Me.,  Acad.,  200. 

GAINESVILLE  (Fla.),  East  Florida 
Seminary,  223. 

Gale,  Theophilus,  master  of  acad.  at 
Newington,  Eng.,  165. 

Galitzin,  Madame  de,  head  of  com- 
munity of  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  New  York,  329. 

Gardner,  Francis,  master  Boston 
Latin  S,  430. 

Gaston,  Wm.,  first  student  George- 
town, Md.,  Acad.,  325. 

Gayarrc,  (Dr.)  Charles,  reminiscences 
of  the  College  of  New  Orleans, 
212. 

Geography,  college  entrance  require- 
ment,' 231,  249,  371. 
Study  of,  in  American  acad.  191, 
233,  237,  238,  253,  277  ;  in  colo- 
nial secondary  ss.,  131 ;  in  Eng- 
lish acad.,  171  ;  in  h.  ss  ,  300, 
307,  352. 

Geography,  physical,  college  entrance 
requirement,  371 ;  study  of,  in 
h.  ss.,  417,  419. 

Geology,  study  of,  in  h.  ss.,  417, 
419. 


532 


INDEX 


Geometry,  college  entrance  require- 
ment, 232,  371. 

Study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  238, 
278;  in  colonial  gr.  a.,  134; 
in  English  acad.,  169,  171;  in 
h.  ss.,  301,  553,  417,  419. 

George,  Henry,  pupil  Central  H.  S., 
Philadelphia,  434. 

Georgetown,  Md.,  Acad.  of  the  Visi- 
tation, 326;  Roman  Catholic 
acad.,  324-326,  503. 

Georgetown,  S.  C.,  Winyaw  Indigo 
Society  S.,  98. 

Georgia  (Colony),  School  System, 
101 ;  (State),  School  System,  201, 
225,  491;  University  of,  211, 
270,  301. 

German  influence  on  American  edu- 
cation, 338. 

German  language,  study  of,  in 
Franklin's  Proposals,  182;  in 
acad.,  191 ;  in  h.  as.,  417,  418. 

Germantown,  Pa.,  Acad.,  201,  503; 
H.  S.,  303. 

Girard,  Stephen,  founder  of  Girard 
College,  341-343. 

Girard  College,  Philadelphia,  founda- 
tion and  early  history,  342-345, 
503. 

Girls,  education  of,  222,  244,  251,  252, 
253,  254-255,  268,  306,  312,  326, 
327,  329,  330,  400,  407. 

Gloucester,  Eng.,  Acad.  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Jones,  167. 

Goodwin,  Edward  J.,  principal  Peter 
Cooper  H.  S.,  New  York  City, 
407. 

Goose  Creek,  S.  C.,  S.,  foundation, 
98. 

Gould,  Benjamin  Apthorp,  principal 
Boston  Latin  S.,  243,  275; 
quoted,  275-277,  307-308. 

Grades  in  colonial  gr.  ss.,  139. 

Gradus  ad  Parnassutn,  132. 

Grammar  schools,  American,  colo- 
nial period,  in  general,  chap.  III. ; 
decline,  91 ;  prepared  especially 
for  the  ministry,  57 ;  relations 
to  colleges,  57,  230  ;  rules,  135  f.  ; 


post-Revolutionary,     272,     273 ; 
English,  7  ff. 

"  Grammar  schools,"  modern  use 
of  the  term  in  Boston,  1789, 
199  f.  n. 

"  Great  Awakening,"  85,  86,  87,  105, 
268. 

Grant,  Zilpah  P.  See  Bannister, 
(Mrs.)  Wm.  B. 

Greek  language,  college  entrance 
requirement,  128  f.,  371,  372; 
methods  of  teaching,  425. 
Study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  chaps. 
IX.  and  XL,  passim,  216,  237, 
272,  277 ;  in  Amer.  colonial  ss., 
chap.  VII.,  passijn  ;  in  English 
acad.,  chap.  VIII.,  passim ;  in 
English  gr.  ss.,  23,  26 ;  in  h. 
ss.,  352,  353,  354,  383,417,418, 
419,441. 

Green,  John  C.,  founder  of  Law- 
renceville  S.,  397. 

Green,  Samuel,  his  description  of 
Nathan  Hale,  quoted,  123. 

Greenfield,  Conn.,  Acad.,  200. 

Greenfield  Hill,  Conn.,  Acad.,  249, 
253,  268-269. 

Grew,  Theophilus,  prof.  Philadelphia 
Public  Acad.,  184. 

Griscom,  John,  opened  h.  s.  for  boys, 
New  York  City,  306;  quoted, 
309 ;  travels  in  Europe,  304, 
305;  visit  to  Edinburgh  H.  S., 
305,  516. 

Groton,  Mass.,  Acad.,  199,  505; 
Grotou  S.,  397. 

Guarino,  treatise  on  education, 
156. 

Guilford,  Conn.,  Grammar  S.,  foun- 
dation, 44. 

Guilford  County,  N.  C.,  classical  s. 
in,  99. 

Gulliver,  John  P.,  leader  in  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Free  Acad.,  Nor- 
wich, Conn,  315;  quoted,  315, 
316-318. 

Gunn,  Frederick  W.,  founder  of  the 
"  Gunnery,1"  Washington,  Conn., 
340. 


INDEX 


533 


Gnyse,  Dr.  John,  urgeii  Jonathan 
Edwards  to  write  his  account  of 
the  Great  Awakening,  176. 

HACKENSACK,  N.  J.,  Washington 
Acad.,  96,  201. 

Hadley,  Mass.,  Hopkins  S.  (later 
Hopkins  Acad.),  48,  117,  124, 
125,  148,  242,  504. 

Hagerstown,  Md.,  St.  James'  Col- 
lege, 395. 

Haldimand,  General,  and  boys  of 
Boston  Latin  S.,  138  f.  n. 

Hale,  John  P.,  260. 

Halo,  Nathan,  master  at  New  Lon- 
don, Conn.,  122,  516. 

Hall,  Joseph,  quoted,  24. 

Hall,  Samuel  It.,  opened  seminary 
for  training  of  teachers  at  An- 
dover,  Mass.,  150. 

Hallowell,  Me.,  Acad.,  200. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  relations  to 
the  founding  of  the  University 
of  New  York,  209. 

Hammond,  Rev.  Charles,  484,  505, 
507,  509,  516. 

Hampton,  Va.,  H.  S.,  endowment,  49. 

Hancock,  John,  117. 

Harley,  Robert  (Earl  of  Oxford), 
pupil  of  John  Wood  house  at 
Sheriff  hales,  Eng.,  163. 

Harris,  Wm.  T.,  definition  of  secon- 
dary education,  3 ;  on  number 
of  h.  ss.  in  1860,  313 ;  member  of 
the  Committee  of  Ten,  381. 

Hart,  Dr.  John  Seely, principal  Central 
H.  S.,  Philadelphia,  422, 430, 51x7. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  Grammar  S.,  45,  47, 
200,  243,  504;  H.  S.,  312,  503, 
504 ;  Miss  Beecher's  Seminary, 
254,  504. 

Hartlib,  Samuel,  letter  of  Milton  to 
him,  155. 

Harvard  University,  107,  193;  en- 
trance requirements,  128,  232, 
249 ;  elective  courses,  248 ;  or- 
ganization of  the  corporation, 
145,  281,  289;  relations  to  Bos- 
tou  Latin  S.,  37,  243;  secured 


part  of  the  Hopkins  Fund,  47  ; 
support  from  Salem,  38. 

Haverhill,  Mass.,  Acad.,  241,  504. 

Haymount,  N.  C.,  Man.  Labor  S.,  337. 

Hazzard,  J.  C.,  ed.  of  Eutropius,  154. 

Hebrew  language,  study  of,  in  Eng- 
lish acad.,  167,  170. 

Helvetius,  theory  of  education,  204. 

Henry,  Matthew,  pupil  in  acad.  at 
Islington,  Eng.,  169,  193. 

Herodotus,  studied  in  Phillips  An- 
dover  Acad.,  263. 

Herschel,  F.  W.,  Astronomy,  232. 

Higli  schools,  American,  in  general, 
chaps.  XIV.-XVI.,  pp.  295,  357- 
368, 393, 400 ;  county  h.  ss.,  Iowa, 
354,  Maryland,  355 ;  curriculum, 
chap.  XVIII.,  passim,  and  416- 
417,  419;  development  of  term 
"  h.  s.,"  301-303 ;  per  cent  of  pop- 
ulation in,  465 ;  right  to  maintain 
decided  by  courts,  356-359 ;  spe- 
cial legislation  establishing,  353 ; 
township  h.  ss.,  Indiana,  379, 
Wisconsin,  365.  For  individual 
h.  ss.,  see  names  of  cities  and 
names  of  separate  h.  ss. 

History,  ancient,  college  entrance 
requirement,  232,  371  ;  study  of, 
in  Amer.  acad.,  238,  277. 

History,  general,  methods  of  teach- 
ing, 423-424,  428. 
Study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  101,  232, 
238,  277;  in  English  acad.,  171 ; 
in  h.  ss.,  301,  353,  417,  419;  in 
Franklin's  Proposals,  181,  in  hia 
Sketch,  189. 

History,  United  States,  college  en- 
trance requirement,  371. 
Study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  236,  237 ; 
in  h.  ss.,  301,  353,  462. 

Hingham,  Mass.,  Derby  S.,  200. 

Hofwyl  (Switzerland)  Institute,  335- 
336,  346. 

Hoge,    ,    prof.     University    of 

Missouri,  member  Board  of  In- 
spectors, North  Central  Assn.  of 
Colleges  and  Ss.,  391. 

Holland,  School  System,  77. 


584 


INDEX 


Holland,  J.  G.,   Arthur  Bonnicastle, 

340. 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  The  School 

Boy,  quoted,  262. 
Holy     Cross     College,     Worcester, 

Mass.,  foundation,  328. 
Homer,  study  of,  in  acad.,  277 ;  in 

colonial  gr.  ss.,  132;   in  Frank- 
lin's Sketch,  189. 
Hooper,    Robert,    pupil    in    Boston 

Latin  S.,  117. 

Hopewell,  N.  J.,  Baptist  S.,  95. 
Hopkins,     Edward,     benefactor    of 

Connecticut  and   Massachusetts 

gr.  ss.,  45  f. 
Hopkins  Grammar   S.   See   Hadley, 

Mass. ;   Hartford,   Conn. ;    New 

Haven,  Conn. 
Horace,  study  of,  in  Amer.  acad., 

238,   271,   277 ;   in   colonial    gr. 

ss.,  132 ;  proposed  in  Franklin's 

Sketch,  189. 
Hort,  (Rev.)  Josiah,  Archbishop  of 

Tuam,  pupil  in  acad.  at  Ne wing- 
ton,  Eng.,  167. 
Hughes,   (Bishop)  John,  opened  St. 

John's  College,  Fordham,  N.  Y., 

328. 
Hughes,  John,  pupil  in  acad.  at  New- 

ington,  Eng.,  167. 
Huguenots,  settlement  in  the  south 

of  the  U.  S.,  84. 
Hutchinson,  (Gov.)  Wm.,  description 

of  Ezekiel  Cheever,  114. 
Huxley,  T.  H.,  definition  of  a  national 

system  of  education,  347. 

ILLINOIS,   School  System,  221,   222, 

367,  497  ;  legal  status  of  h.  ss., 

359. 
Illinois    College,    Jacksonville,    111., 

222. 
Independent  Reflector,  New  York  City, 

1752-1753,  284-286. 
Indiana,  Constitution  of  1816,  quoted, 

349. 
Indiana,      School     System,    county 

seminaries,  220  ;  organization  of 

state  system,  364;  State  Board 


of    Education   as    inspectors   of 

secondary     education,    378-379, 

491,  498;  State  Normal  S.,  379. 
University  of,  220,  385  ;  accrediting 

system,  378. 

Indians,  education  of,  93. 
Iowa,    School    System,    acad.,    222- 

223;    h.  ss.,   354,  494. 
University  of,  223. 
Ipswich,  Eng.,  Cardinal  Wolsey's  S., 

17. 

Ipswich,  Mass ,  girls'  s.,  254,  505. 
Irving,  Washington,  247. 
Isocrates,  read  in  Tewkesbury,  Eng., 

Acad.,  168. 

JACKSON,  (Gen.)  Thomas  J.  ("Stone- 
wall "),  teacher  in  the  Virginia 
Military  Institute,  334. 

Jacksonville  (111.)  Female  Acad.,  222. 

Jacob  Tome  Institute,  Port  Deposit, 
Md.,  398. 

Jamison,  David,  master  of  Latin  S. 
in  New  York  City,  53. 

Jay,  John,  pupil  at  St.  Paul's  College, 
Flushing,  L.  I.,  394. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  201,  228,  250  f. 
n. ;  influence  on  public  educa- 
tion in  Virginia,  292  ;  letter  to 
Cabell,  quoted,  350 ;  notes  on 
the  state  of  education  in  Virginia, 
quoted,  207,  208. 

Jesuits,  Latin  ss.,  8  ;  Acad.  at  George- 
town, Md.,  324-325  ;  Holy  Cross 
College,  Worcester,  Mass.,  328 ; 
prominence  of,  in  Roman  Catholic 
educational  work,  327  ;  St.  John's 
College,  Fordham,  N.  Y.,  328, 
511 ;  s.  at  Bohemia  Manor,  Md., 
324. 

Jewish  antiquities,  study  of,  in 
English  Acad.,  168,  169,  171. 

Johnson,  Osgood,  principal  Phillips 
Andover  Acad.,  266. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  quoted,  165  f.  n. ; 
on  Milton's  Tractate,  160. 

Johnson,  Samuel  (American),  Ethica 
elementa,  Noetica,  in  Franklin's 
Sketch,  189. 


INDEX 


535 


Johnston,  Mary,  portrayal  of  Ameri- 
can educational  conditions  in 
Audrey,  109. 

Jollie,  (Rev.)  Timothy,  head  of 
Rathmill  Acad.,  Eng.,  162. 

Jones,  Joel,  first  pres.  Girard  College, 
345. 

Jones,  (Rev.)  Samuel,  master  acad. 
at  Gloucester  and  at  Tewkesbury, 
Eng.,  167,  170. 

Jonesboro  (111.)  College,  222. 

Judges,  visitors  of  colonial  ss.,  149. 

Judsou,  Harry  Pratt,  Dean  Univ. 
Chicago,  chairman  Commission 
on  accredited  ss.,  390. 

KALAMAZOO   (Mich.)    H.    S.    Case, 

356-359. 

Kansas,  School  System,  367,  488,491. 
Keene,  N.  H.,  Miss  Fiske's  s.  254. 
Keith,  George,  master  Philadelphia 

Gr.  S.,  54  ;  missionary  of  Society 

for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, 82. 
Kentucky,    School    System,    county 

acad.,  219-220,  225,  491. 
Kent,   (Chancellor)    James,    on  the 

Dartmouth  College  Case,  290. 
King,  Henry,  founder  of  a  free  s.  in 

Isle  of  Wight  Co.,  Va.,  49. 
King  William's  S.,  Annapolis,  Md., 

foundation,   56 ;    corporation   of 

150,  505. 
King's  College,  New  York  City.  See 

Columbia  University. 
Kingswood,  Eng.,  Methodist  S.,  172. 
Knowlton,   Cyrus,  principal  Hughes 

H.  S.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  431. 
Konkapunt,  John,  pupil  at  Nazareth 

Hall,  191. 

LA  MORATORY  methods  in  secondary 
ss.,  383,  418-422. 

La  Chalotais,  L.  R.  C.,  educational 
theories,  204;  quoted,  285. 

La  Fayette  (Marquis  de),  Jean  Fran- 
cois, his  reputation  in  America 
after  independence,  235. 


Lancaster,  Joseph,  founder    of  the 
monitorial  system,  294. 

Lancasterian  methods,  268,  305, 
311. 

Latin  language,  college  entrance 
requirement,  128  f.,  371 ;  compo- 
sition in  Amer.  acad.,  237,  272  ; 
composition  in  colonial  grammar 
ss.,  132  ;  methods  of  teaching,  21, 
22,  114,  273,  276,277-278,424- 
425. 

Study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  chap. 
XI.,  patsim  ;  in  colonial  gr.  ss., 
chap.  VII.,  passim;  in  English 
acad.,  chap.  VIII.  do. ;  in  English 
grammar  ss.,  chap.  II.,  do. ;  in 
h.  ss.,  352,  353,  354,  382,  417, 
419, 441 ;  in  Franklin's  Proposals, 
181,  182. 

Latin  ss.,  European,  7. 

Laud,  (Archbishop)  Wm.,  efforts  to 
secure  a  bishop  for  America,  83. 

Lawrenceville  S.,  Lawrenceville, 
N.  J.,  397. 

Laws,  instruction  regarding,  135 ; 
for  legislation  regarding  ss.,  see 
School  laws. 

Leach,  Arthur  F.,  on  16th  cent, 
gr.  ss.,  17  ff. 

Lebanon,  Conn.,  Moor's  Indian 
Charity  S.,  93 

Lecture  system  in  secondary  ss.,  421. 

Leicester  (Mass.)  Acad.,  199,  200, 
240,  245,  253,  506. 

Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  University,  385. 

Lewis,  Samuel,  on  expansion  of  ele- 
mentary ss.,  314. 

Lexington,  Va.,  Virginia  Military 
Institute,  foundation,  334. 

L'Hommedieu,  Ezra,  founder  of  the 
University  of  New  York,  209. 

Liberty  (Ind.)  county  seminary,  220. 

Liberty  Hall  Acad.,  Charlotte,  N.  C., 
99. 

Libraries  in  secondary  ss.,  English 
acad.,  171,  174;  in  Franklin's 
Proposals,  180;  recommended  by 
Commission  on  accredited  SB., 
391. 


536 


INDEX 


Lick,  James,  founder  of  California  S. 

of  Mechanical  Arts,  402. 
Lieber,  Francis,  plan  for  Girard  Col- 

lege, 343. 
Lilly,  Wm.,  master  of  St.  Paul's  S., 

London,  Eng  ,  16;  Latin  Gram- 

mar, 132,  152. 
Liringston,    Wm.,  controversy   over 

incorporation  of  King's  College, 

New  York  City,  283-287. 
Livy,  read  in  Amer.  acad.,  238. 
Locke,  John,  influence  on  the  Eng- 

lish  acad.,    166;    in   Franklin's 

Sketch,  189. 
"Log  College,"  Neshamiuy,  N.  J., 

88,  98,  105,  117,  118,  506;  term, 

89. 
Logic,  study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  233, 

238;   in  English  acad.,  171;  in 

h.  ss.,  301,  333. 
Longstreet,  A.  B.,   pupil  of   Moses 

Waddel,  271. 
Loretto    Acad.,     Bardstown,     Ky., 

foundation,   327. 
Lotteries  to  support  ss.,   Louisiana, 

212;  New  York,  287. 
Louisiana,  early  Catholic  ss.  in,  323  ; 

School    System,    211-212,    213, 

367,  490. 
Lovell,     James,     assistant     Boston 

Latin   S.,    116. 
Lovell,  John,  master  Boston  Latin  S., 

115-117. 

Lower  Marlboro  (Md.)  Acad.,  192. 
Lowth's  English  Grammar,  234. 
Luyck,  Aegidius,  master  New  York 

City  Grammar  S.,  52,  125. 
Lyon,  Mary,  founder  of  Mt.  Holyoke 

Seminary,  254,  330. 


,  J.  P.,   principal  h.  s. 

Oakland,  Cal.,  423  f.  n. 
McClosky,  (Cardinal)  John,  first  pres. 

of  St.  John's  College,  Fordham, 

N.  Y.,  328. 
McClure,  David,   his  Diary,  quoted, 

252,  336. 
McDuffie,    George,   pupil    of  Moses 

Waddel,  271. 


McGrew,  Gifford  H.  G.,  list  of  early 

h.  s.,  314  f.  n. 

McKendreean  College,  Illinois,  222. 
McLaren,   lau  (pseud.),  see  Watson, 

(Rev.)  John. 

Machias,  Me.,  Acad.,  200. 
Madison  Acad.,    Edwardsville,    111., 

221. 

Maine,  School  System,  200,  224,  367. 
Mair's  Introduction  (Latin),  272-273. 
Makin,  Thomas,  master  Philadelphia 

Gr.  S.,  54. 
Malcolm,    Alexander,    master   of    a 

public  s.,  New   York  City,   94. 
Manchester,   Vt.,  Manual   Labor  S., 

337. 
Manigault,   G.  P.,   reminiscences  of 

Mr.  Cotes'  Classical  S  ,  350 
Manhattan   College,  Manhattanville, 

N.  Y.,  foundation,  328. 
Mann,  Horace,  361  ;  developed  h.  s. 

system  of    Massachusetts,  315 ; 

report  on  German  schools,  338; 

visit   to    Mr.    Hall's    Seminary, 

Andover,   Mass.,   250. 
Manners,  instruction  in,  135. 
Manning,  (Rev.)  Jarnes,  pres.  Rhode 

Island  College,  101. 
Manual  labor  movement,  335,  338. 
Manual  training  ss  ,  401,  414. 
Marietta,   Ohio,   Manual    Labor  S., 

337. 

Marion,  (Gen.)  Francis,  235. 
Marshall,  John,  Chief  Justice,  opinion 

in  Dartmouth  College  Case,  289. 
Martin,     David,    rector     of    Public 

Acad.,   Philadelphia,   Pa.,    183. 
Marye,  (Rev.)  James,  master  acad. 

at  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  99. 
Maryland    (Colony),  county   gr.  ss., 

217;    grammar    ss.,   foundation 

and  early  history,  55  f. ;  School 

System,  75  f.,  100  f.,  192. 
Maryland    (State),    School    System, 

201,  215,  225,  496;  county  h.  s., 

355. 

Maryland   Gazette,  quoted,  187. 
Maryland,  Univ.  of,  foundation,  218. 
Mason,  On  self-knowledge,  265. 


INDEX 


537 


Massachusetts  (Bay  Colony),  act  of 
General  Court  providing  for 
public  instruction,  64,  69 ;  later 
acts,  70;  foundation  and  early 
history  of  gr.  ss  ,  34-44  ;  school 
corporations,  148,  197. 

Massachusetts  (Province),  school 
law,  71  ;  School  System,  91,  92. 

Massachusetts  (State),  academy 
movement,  192  f.,  200,  216-217*; 
School  System,  199,  216,  489, 
490,  492,  493,  497;  grants  to 
acad.,  217;  224,  305-313;  h.  s. 
movement,  311,  352-353;  com- 
pulsory by  legislation  of  1891, 
360,  368;  present  conditions  of 
s.  system,  361. 

Mathematics,  methods  of  teaching, 
425 ;  study  of,  in  American 
acad.,  chap.  IX.,  passim,  232 ; 
studv  of,  in  English  acad.,  chap. 
VIII,  do. 

Mather,  Cotton,  authority  for  text- 
books used  in  Boston  Latin  S., 
130;  poem  on  Ezekiel  Cheever, 
111;  use  of  term  "academy," 
178. 

Mather,  Increase,  use  of  term  "  acad- 
emy," 176  ;  his  position  on  lay- 
men as  visitors,  149. 

Maud,  Daniel,  master  of  Boston  Latin 
S.,  1636,35. 

Maxwell,  (Rev.)  Samuel,  description 
of  Ezekiel  Cheever,  115. 

Medford,  Mass.,  Female  Acad.,  253. 

Mela,  Pomponins,  in  Milton's  pro- 
posed curriculum,  158. 

Meriwether,  Higher  education  in  South 
Carolina,  quoted,  271. 

Metaphysics,  study  of,  in  English 
acad.,  171. 

Michigan  Military  Acad.,  Orchard 
Lake,  Mich.,  397,  506. 

Michigan,  School  System,  213-214, 
215,  492,  493  ;  Pres.  Tappan  on, 
351  ;  Kalamazoo  H.  S.  Case, 
356-359. 

Michigan,  University  of,  foundation, 
213;  German  influence  on,  338J 


leading  position  among  state 
universities,  292 ;  legal  status, 
358. 

Milford,  Conn.,  Gr.  S.,  foundation,  44. 

Military  schools,  growth  since  Civil 
War,  397  ;  origin,  332  ;  popular 
in  the  South,  334-335.  See  also 
names  of  individual  schools. 

Milton,  John,  use  of  term  "  academy," 
155,  156;  in  Franklin's  Sketch, 
189;  Tractate  on  education,  157- 
161;  174,  177;  Paradise  lost, 
used  for  parsing  exercises,  235. 

Ministers,  visitors  of  colonial  ss., 
149. 

Ministry,  education  for,  109,291.  See 
also  Theological  Seminaries. 

Minnesota,  School  System,  State  h. 
ss.,  366,  367,  494. 

Minnesota,  University  of,  relations  to 
h.  ss.,  366. 

Missouri,  School  System,  208,  377, 
496. 

Mitchell,  (Dr.)  Weir,  Hugh  Wynne, 
portrayal  of  condition  of  educa- 
tion in,  109. 

Modern  Language  Association  of 
America,  387. 

Modern  languages,  college  entrance 
requirement,  248,  372 ;  Frank- 
lin's Proposals,  182;  methods  of 
teaching,  424. 

Monitorial  system,  305-306,  307. 

Monitors,  137,  264-265. 

Monroe  Co.,  111.,  Acad.,  221. 

Montpelier,  La.,  Acad.,  213. 

Montreal,  Canada,  School  of  the 
Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  328. 

Moody,  Samuel,  first  master  of  Dum- 
mer  Gr.  S.,  92,  139,  517. 

Moon,  (Capt.)  John,  founder  of  gr.  s. 
in  Newport  Parish,  Va.,  49. 

Moor's  Indian  Charity  School,  93. 

Moral  philosophy,  study  of,  in  acad., 
238;  in  h.  s.,  301. 

Moravian  Church,  s.  at  Nazareth, 
Pa.,  190-192,  201 ;  sem.  at  Beth- 
lehem, Pa.,  201. 


538 


INDEX 


Morrill     Act    (1862),    influence     on 

higher  education,  337,  370. 
Morris  Academy,  Morristown,  N.  J., 

199. 

Morristown,  N.  J.,  Gr.  S.,  201 . 
Morse,  Jedediah,  master  Girls'  School 

in  New  Haven,  253  ;  Geography, 

233.       . 
Morton,  (Rev.)  Charles,  head  of  acad. 

at  Newington  Green  (Eng.),  163, 

16.4. 
Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  foundation, 

255,  507. 
Muhlenberg,  (Rev.)  Wm.  Augustus, 

head    of    St.     Paul's     College, 

Flushing,  L.  I.,  394,  517. 
Muirson,  George,  master  gr.  s.,  New 

York  City,  94. 

Municipal  control  of  schools,  310. 
Munson,  Daniel,  master  Hopkins  Gr. 

S.,  New  Haven,  138. 
Munson,  Eneas,  description  of  Nathan 

Hale,  quoted,  122. 
Murray,  Lindley,  Grammar,  234, 238 ; 

Readers,  236. 
Music,  in  Amer.  acad.,  191 ;  in  Amer. 

h.  s.,  354,  428. 

NAPOLEON  I.,  Emperor  of  France, 
founder  of  University  of  France, 
210. 

Nashville  (Teun  ),  University  of, 
219. 

Natchitoches  (La.)  Acad.,  213. 

National  Educational  Association, 
Committee  on  College  Entrance 
Requirements,  Report,  385-386 ; 
413,  439,  443,  465;  Committee  of 
Fifteen,  Report  1895,  quoted, 
429  ;  Committee  of  Ten,  organi- 
zation and  Report,  381,  384-385, 
413,425,439,465;  Department  of 
Natural  Science  Instruction,  387; 
discussions  of  1882  on  manual 
training,  401. 

Natural  history,  in  sec.  ss.  Frank- 
lin's Proposals,  181  ;  in  h.  ss., 
307. 

Natural  philosophy.     See  Physics. 


Navigation,  study  of,  in  Amer.  acad., 
233,  238  ;  in  colonial  gr.  ss.,  134  ; 
in  h.  ss.,  301. 

Nazareth  Academy,  Bardstown,  Ky., 
327. 

Nazareth  Hall  (Nazareth,  Penn.,), 
190-192,  201,  244,  265,  507. 

Nebraska  School  System,  367,  489. 

Negroes,  secondary  schools  for,  400- 
401. 

Nepos,  Cornelius,  read  in  American 
sec.  ss.,  277. 

Newark  (Del.),  S.  of  the  Synod  of 
Phila.  (Pres.),  103;  "Newark 
Acad.,  103. 

Newark,  N.  J.,  Acad.,  201. 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  Theol.  Sem., 
256. 

Newbury,  Mass.,  Gr.  S.,  foundation, 
39. 

Newburyport,  Mass.,  Putnam  S.,  317. 

New  England  Association  of  Colleges 
and  Preparatory  Schools,  organi- 
zation, 380,  423. 

New  England  Primer,  131. 

New  England,  social  distinctions,  18th 
cent.,  108,  110. 

New  Hampshire  (Colony),  act  pro- 
viding for  schools,  72  ;  School 
System,  91. 

New  Hampshire  (State),  School  Sys- 
tem, 199,  224,  354,  367.  489. 

New  Haven  (Conn.),  Gr.  S.,  founda- 
tion, 44;  control,  148. 
Hopkins  Grammar  S.,  47,  148,  200, 
251,  267,  504,  505. 

Newington  Green  (Eng.),  acad.  of 
Rev.  C.  Martin,  163 ;  acad.  of 
Theophilus  Gale,  165. 

New  Ipswich  (N.  H.)  Acad.,  199. 

New  Jersey,  College  of.  See  Prince- 
ton University. 

New  Jersey  (Colony)  School  System, 
95,  96;  (State)  School  System, 
201,  224,  494. 

"  New  Lights,"  92,  103,  281-283. 

New  London  (Conn.),  "  Shepherd's 
Tent,"  92  ;  Union  School,  foun- 
dation, 93. 


INDEX 


539 


New  London  (Pa.)  Presbyterian 
Synodal  S.,  102. 

New  Orleans  (La.),  college  of,  212 ; 
Ursuline  Seminary,  323. 

Newport  (R.  I.),  Acad.,  200;  gr.  s., 
foundation,  48. 

New  Testament,  Greek,  college  en- 
trance requirement,  128,  129, 
231  ;  study  of,  in  English  acad., 
168,  170;  study  of,  in  Amer. 
acad.,  237,  277 ;  study  of,  in 
gr.  ss.,  24,  128,  133,  272. 

Newton,  (Sir)  Isaac,  influence  on 
English  acad.,  232 ;  Principia, 
268;  Watt's  dependence  on,  166 

New  York  City,  City  College,  302, 
313,  406;  first  (elementary) 
school,  51  ;  Free  Public  H.  S., 
DeWitt  Clinton,  Wadleigh, 
Peter  Cooper,  Morris  S.,  407- 
408 ;  Free  School  established 
1732,  corporation,  150,  151;  Free 
School  Society,  later,  Public 
School  Society,  294,  310,  508; 
Grammar  S.,  foundation,  52 ; 
later,  Collegiate  S.,  407  ;  De  La 
Salle  Acad.,  foundation,  328 ; 
High  School  Society,  306,  508 ; 
High  School  for  Boys,  1825, 
306  ;  Female  H.  S.,  306  ;  Report 
quoted,  306-307  ;  High  School 
of  Commerce,  405 ;  high  ss., 
course  of  study  1901,  see  Ap- 
pendix B.,  473-476;  Latin  School 
(Jesuit),  53  ;  Manual  Training 
S.,  401  ;  Normal  College,  foun- 
dation, 406. 

New  York  Private  Secondary  Ss., 
Trinity  S.,  407 ;  Dr.  Sach's  Ss., 
407;  Columbia  Gr.  S.,  407; 
Mrs.  Heed's  S.,  407;  Miss 
Spence's  S.,  407;  The  Misses 
Ely's  S.,  407  ;  Brearley  Ss.,  407  ; 
Cutler  S.,  407;  John  Brown- 
ing's S.,  407. 

New  York  (Colony),  Gr.  ss.  founda- 
tion and  early  history  51-53. 
J^Jew  York  (Province)  School  System, 
93,  94. 


New  York  (State),  School  corpora- 
tions, 150-151  ;  School  System, 
200,  210,  224,  305,  355,  488,  489, 
491,  493,  494,  495,  497. 
New  York  State,  University  of,  foun- 
dation, 209  (1784),  213,  215,  355  ; 
growth  and  activity  to  1901,  361- 
363;  regents'  reports,. quoted,  251. 
Nicholson,  (Sir)  Francis,  Governor 
of  Maryland,  urges  support  of 
free  ss.  and  gives  lands  for  that 
purpose,  55. 

Nightingale,  A.F.,  chairman  N.  E.  A. 
com.  on  college  entrance  require- 
ments, 386. 

Ninety-six,  S.  C.,  S.,  found.,  98. 

Noble,  Patrick,  pupil  of  M.  Waddel, 
271. 

Nonconformists  (English),  acade- 
mies of,  161,  162f.,  173,  174, 
177,  179. 

Norfolk,  Va.,  Acad.,  201  ;  gr.  s., 
foundation,  1763,  99. 

Normal  schools,  255 ;  followers  of 
acad.,  251 ;  influence  on  sec.  ss., 
409,  410  f.  n. 

North  American  Review,  305. 

North  Carolina  (Colony),  School 
System,  98  f. 

North  Carolina,  School  System,  201, 
202,  225,  495;  University  of, 
foundation,  291. 

North  Central  Association  of  Colleges 
and  Secondary  Schools,  organi- 
zation, 380 ;  its  commission  on 
accredited  ss.,  390-391. 

Northampton  (Conn.)  Gr.  S.,  124. 

Northampton  (Eng.),  acad.  at,  169  f. 

Northampton  (Mass.),  Gr.  S.,  124; 
Round  Hill  S.,  339. 

Northfield  (Vt.),  Norwich  University, 
332-333. 

Norwich  (Conn.),  Acad.,  200;  Free 
Acad.,  314-315,  316-319,  320, 
321,  508. 

Norwich  University,  Northfield,  Vt., 
foundation,  332,  508. 

Notre  Dame,  College  of,  Baltimore 
(Md.),  329. 


540 


INDEX 


Notre  Dame  of  Naraur,  Sisters  of, 
convent  schools,  ,330;  established 
in  Cincinnati,  329  ;  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Washington,  .330. 

Notre  Dame  University,  foundation, 
328 ;  508. 

Nottingham  (Md.),  Acad.  of  Rev. 
Sam.  Finley,  100. 

OBERLIN  COLLEGE,  foundation,  255. 
Occum,     (Rev.)    Samson,   pupil    at 

Moor's  Indian   Charity  S.,    93. 
Ohio,  School  System,  225,  312,  313, 

353,  490,  491,  494,  496. 
Old  field,  Joshua,  master  at  Coventry 

.  (Kng.),169. 
"  Old  Lights,"  281-283. 
Olmsted,  Denison,  on  Greenfield  Hill 

Acad.,  quoted,  269. 
Orangedale  (N.  J.)  Acad.,  201. 
Orchard    Lake    (Mich.),    Michigan 

Military  Acad.,  397. 
Otis,  Harrison  Gray,  pupil  at  Boston 

Latin  S.,  116;  quoted,  132. 
Orid,  read  in  acad.,  277  ;  in  colonial 

gr.  ss.,  130,  132. 

PAINE,  Robert  Treat,  pupil  in  Bos- 
ton Latin  S.,  117. 

Palmer,  Samuel,  controversy  with 
Sam.  Wesley,  164,  178. 

Park,  (Rev.)  Wm.  E.,  recollections 
of  Samuel  Taylor,  quoted,  266. 

Parliamentary  commission  on  sec. 
educ.  (English),  465. 

Partridge,  Capt.  Alden,  founder  of 
American  Literary,  Scientific, 
and  Military  Acad.,  Norwich 
(Vt.),  332-333;  founder  of  Vir- 
ginia Literary,  Scientific,  and 
Military  Institute,  Portsmouth 
(Va.),  334:  supt.  West  Point 
Acad.,  332,517. 

Pearson,  Eliphalet,  prin.  Phillips 
(Andover)  Acad.,  196,  261. 

Pearsley,  Henry,  founder  of  a  free  s. 
in  Gloucester  Co.,  Va.,  49. 

Peuii,  William,  his  frame  of  govern- 


ment, 73  ;  relations  to  education 
in  Penn.,  54. 

Penn,  William,  Charter  School,  Phil- 
adelphia (Pa.),  corporation,  150; 
early  history,  55,  74  ;  foundation, 
54;  514. 

Pennsylvania  (Colony),  acts  provid- 
ing for  ss.,  74 ;  gr.  ss.,  founda- 
tion and  early  history,  53  f.  ; 
School  System,  103-104. 

Pennsylvania  (State),  School  System, 
201,  218,  219,  224,  311,  367, 
497. 

Pennsylvania,  University  of,  147,  202, 
218,  509  ;  incorporation,  288, 
291  ;  Wharton  School,  404. 

Peoria  (111.)  Roman  Catholic  H.  S., 
400. 

Person,  Wm.,  pupil  in  Phillips  An- 
dover, 264-2G5. 

Pestalozzi,  early  experiments  in  man- 
ual training,  335. 

Pestalozzian  movement,  226. 

Peters,  (Rev.)  Richard,  preaches  ser- 
mon at  opening  of  Public  Acad., 
Philadelphia,  183. 

Phsedrus,  Fabulce,  read  in  Amer.  sec. 
ss.,  277. 

Philadelphia  (Pa.),  Cahill  H.  S.,399; 
Central  H.  S.,  31 1,  420,  434,  509  ; 
Charity  School,  see  Phila.  Pub- 
lic Academy;  Girard  College, 
342-345;  Girls'  Acad.,  253; 
Grammar  S.,  foundation,  54; 
Public  Academy,  104,  180-183, 
190,  201.  See  also  Penn,  Win  , 
Charter  School. 

Philadelphia,  College  of.  See  Penn- 
sylvania, University  of. 

Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  259; 
bibliography,  202,  509 ;  chartered, 
200;  foundation,  195  f.  ;  history, 
261,  266,  304;  name,  176;  a 
"national"  acad.,  230;  Josiah 
Quincy,  student  of,  304  ;  student 
societies,  245. 

Phillips  Academy,  Exeter  (N.  H.), 
199,  202,  230,  245,  259,  263,  510; 
athletics,  433  ;  curriculum,  1818^ 


INDEX 


541 


237,  238,  249;  foundation,  198; 
Golden  Branch  Society,  244 ; 
name,  176;  Rhetorical  Society, 
244. 

Phillips,  Johu,  founder  of  Phillips 
Acad.,  Exeter,  N.  H.,  194,  517. 

Phillips,  Samuel,  founder  of  Phillips 
Academy,  193,  517;  life,  241, 
261  ;  theory  of  union  of  manual 
labor  and  education,  336. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  connection  with 
founders  of  Phillips  Acad., 
195  f.  n. 

Phillips,  William,  of  Boston,  associ- 
ated in  foundation  of  Phillips 
Academy,  Andover,  194. 

Phillips  family,  194  and  f.  n.,  197. 

Physical  exercise,  apparatus  for,  in- 
troduced by  G.  F.  Thayer,  340 ; 
Milton's  Tractate,  159;  Tewkes- 
bury  Acad.,  169.  See  also  Sports. 

Physics,  college  entrance  require- 
ments, 372. 

Study  of,  in  Amer.  acad.,  233,  238; 
in  Eng.  acad.,  171  ;  in  h.  ss.,  301, 
307,  417,  418,  419. 

Physiology,  study  of,  in  h.  ss.,  417, 
419. 

Pierce,  Josiah,  master  Hopkins  Gr. 
S.,  Hadley,  Conn.,  125. 

Pillans  (Dr.),  rector  Edinburgh  H. 
S.,  305-306. 

Pittsburg  (Pa.)  Acad.,  201. 

Plainfield  (Conn.)  Acad.,  200,  262. 

Plato,  his  teaching  in  the  grove 
of  Academus,  origin  of  term 
"  academy,"  155. 

Platt,  (Senator)  O.  H.,  teacher  at 
the  "  Gunnery,"  340. 

Pliny  the  Elder,  study  of,  in  Milton's 
proposed  curriculum,  158. 

Plymouth  Colony  Free  School,  53. 

Political  economy  in  h,  ss.,  354. 

Pollock,  Robert,  Course  of  time  in 
Amer.  acad.,  235. 

Pomfret  (Conn.)  Acad.,  200. 

Pope,  Alexander,  Letters,  in  Frank- 
lin's Sketch,  189;  Essaj  on  man, 
in  acad.,  235. 


Pormont,  Philemon,  first  master  of 
Boston  Latin  School,  35. 

Port  Deposit,  Md.,  Jacob  Tome  Insti- 
tute, 398. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  girls'  school,  252. 

Presbyterian  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
controversy  over  educated  min- 
istry, 89  ;  founds  School  of  the 
Synod,  New  London,  Pa.,  1744, 
102,  103  ;  protest,  time  of  Great 
Awakening,  87. 

Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  403. 

Priestley,  (Rev.)  Joseph,  pupil  in 
acad.  at  Coventry,  Eng.,  life, 
172. 

Princeton  University,  entrance  re- 
quirements, 129,  147,  232;  foun- 
dation, 90,  98,  281. 

Princeton  Grammar  School,  201,  272. 

Pritchett,  Henry  S.,  pres.  Mass.  In- 
stitute of  Technology,  on  techni- 
cal instruction,  402. 

Private  day  ss.,  398. 

Private  schools,  339-341. 

Providence,  K.  I.,  200 ;  Gr.  S.,  founda- 
tion, 48  ;  H.  S.,  312,  510;  Roman 
Catholic  h.  s.,  400. 

Prudden,  John,  master  Roxbury  Gr. 
S.,  124. 

Psychology,  study  of,  in  h.  s.,  417, 
419. 

Public  control  of  schools.  See  State 
control ;  State  support. 

Public  exercises,  Eng.  acad.,  171. 

Public  schools,  popular  devotion  to, 
331  ;  per  cent  of  students  in,  400. 

Punishments,  in  acad.,  244;  colonial 
gr.  ss.,  136,  137,  274;  Eng.  gr. 
ss.,  17th  cent.,  23;  by  fine,  265. 

Purdue  University,  379. 

Puritanism,  in  England,  62;  influ- 
ence on  education,  43. 

Putnam,  Oliver,  founder  of  Putnam 
S.,  Newbury,  Mass.,  317. 

QUAKERS,  gave  instruction  concern- 
ing laws  of  the  land,  135 ;  influ- 
ence on  education,  73. 

Queen's  College,  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  99. 


542 


INDEX 


Queen's  College,  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.  See  Rutgers  College. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  efforts  toward  found- 
ing (Boston)  English  Classical 
School,  304;  established  House 
of  Industry  in  Boston,  305; 
pupil  at  Phillips  Andover,  304  ; 
quoted,  194,  260,  304. 

Quintilian,  in  Milton's  proposed  cur- 
riculum, 158. 

RAPIDES  (La.)  College,  213. 

Readfield,  Me.,  Maine  Wesleyan 
Seminary,  337. 

Reading  books,  school,  in  Amer. 
acad.,  235,  236. 

Reading  schools  (Eng.),  17th  cent.,  19. 

Reformation,  the,  influence  on  school 
systems,  61. 

Religion,  instruction  in,  acad.,  239, 
265;  colonial  gr.  ss.,  135;  Eng- 
lish gr.  ss.,  17th  cent.,  23;  h. 
ss.,  352,  426,  427,  451-453. 

Religious  freedom,  84. 

Requirements  for  entrance.  See  Col- 
lege entrance  requirements. 

Rhetoric,  study  of,  in  Amer.  acad., 
235,  238,  253;  in  Amer.  coll., 
269;  in  Eng.  acad,  171;  in 
Amer.  h.  ss.,  353,  417,  418, 
423. 

Rhode  Island  College.  See  Brown 
University. 

Rhode  Island  (Colony),  foundation 
and  early  history  of  gr.  ss.,  48 ; 
School  System,  101. 

Rhode  Island  (State),  School  System, 
200,  224,  496,  497. 

Rich's  Shorthand,  used  in  North- 
ampton (Eng.)  Acad.,  170. 

Ritwyse,  John,  master  of  St.  Paul's 
School  (London,  Eng.),  16. 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Manual  Labor 
School,  337. 

Rock  Spring  (111.)  Seminary,  222. 

Rogers,  Col.  Sumner,  founder  of 
Michigan  Military  Acad.,  397. 

Rollin's  Ancient  History,  in  Franklin's 
Sketch,  189. 


Roman  Catholic  schools,  bibliog- 
raphy, 344,  414;  colleges,  326, 
327,  328,  329,  330;  girls'  con- 
vent ss.,  255,  323,  326,  327,  329, 
330;  parochial  ss.,  323,  399; 
secondary  ss.,  324,  399,  451  ; 
theol.  ss.,  256,  323,  324,  326,  327. 

Round  Hill  S.,  Northampton,  Mass., 
foundation,  339  ;  395,  510. 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques,  educational 
theory,  205,  229,  335,  342. 

Rowe,  Thomas,  master  of  acad.  at 
Newington,  Eng.,  165,  173. 

Roxbury  (Mass.),  124,  125,  511 ;  Gr. 
S.,  control,  148 ;  foundation, 
1645,  40;  incorporated,  242; 
state  in  1681,  142. 

Rush,  (Dr.)  Benjamin,  founder  of 
girls'  school,  Philadelphia,  253 ; 
pupil  at  acad.  at  Nottingham, 
Md.,  100. 

Rush,  Jacob,  founds  girls'  school, 
Philadelphia,  253. 

Rutgers  College,  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.,  96,  147. 

Rutgers  College  Gr.  S.,  201. 

SACRED  HEART,  Sisters  of,  their 
acad.  at  Manhattanville,  329. 

St.  James  College,  Hagerstown,  Md., 
395. 

St.  John,  Henry  (Viscount  Boling- 
broke),  pupil  of  John  Wood- 
house,  Sheriff  hales,  Eng.,  163. 

St.  John's  College,  Annapolis,  (Md.), 
218,  511. 

St.  Joseph's  College,  Bardstown,  Ky., 
foundation,  327. 

St.  Joseph's  Seminary,  Bardstown, 
Ky.,  foundation,  327. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  High  School,  313, 
511  ;  Manual  Training  S.,  401. 

St.  Mark's  School,  Southborough, 
Mass.,  396,  511  ;  course  of  study, 
1901-1902,  476-479. 

St.  Mary's  Acad.,  New  York  City, 
foundation,  327. 

St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  Md., 
foundation,  326. 


INDEX 


543 


St.  Paul's  College,  Flushing,  L.  L, 
394,  512. 

St.  Paul's  School,  Concord,  N.  H., 
foundation,  395-396,  512. 

St.  Paul's  School  (London,  Eng.), 
110,  307;  bibliography,  28-29; 
course  of  study,  14  ;  foundation, 
12;  rules  for  admission,  13; 
masters,  16. 

Salaries  of  schoolmasters,  colonial, 
123-125  ;  li.  s.,  301. 

Salem,  Mass.,  Gr.  S.,  foundation,  38. 

Sallust,  read  in  acad.,  237,  277  ;  in 
colleges  (colonial),  33. 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  California  School 
of  Mechanical  Arts,  402  ;  h.  s., 
313,  512  ;  Lowell  H.  S.,  course 
of  study,  1901,  480. 

Sanderson,  Nicholas,  pupil  of  John 
Fraukland  at  Rathmill,  Eng., 
162. 

School  administration,  colonial,  1 28  f., 
147,  152,  279,  280. 

School  buildings,  colonial,  140  f., 
270. 

School  hours,  Boston  Latin  S.,  1773, 
132;  Dorchester,  Mass.,  1645, 
136;  Hopkins  Gr.  S.,  New 
Haven,  1684,  137  ;  Leicester 
Acad.,  245 ;  Phillips  Andover, 
1780,  261. 

School  lauds  granted  by  U.  S.,  given 
to  states,  215,  219;  288-289. 

Schoolmasters,  colonial,  108  f. 

School  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  found 
College  of  Notre  Dame  of  Mary- 
laud,  329. 

School  systems,  American  (colonial), 
60  f.,  65,  see  also  names  of  states ; 
England,  16th  century,  60;  Ger- 
man, 17th  century,  66  ;  Holland, 
17th  century,  66  f.  n. ;  Scotland, 
17th  century,67  f.  n. 

Schwenckfelders,  High  School  of,  in 
Montgomery  Co.  and  Berks  Co., 
Pa.,  303. 

Sciences,  natural,  study  of,  in  acad- 
emies, 232 ;  in  colleges,  248  ;  in 
secondary  ss.,  general,  416-419. 


See  also,  Astronomy ;  Biology  ; 
Botany  ;  Chemistry  ;  Physics. 

Scotch  influence  on  sec.  education  in 
America,  272,  305-306;  educa- 
tional system,  bibliography,  77- 
78. 

Scotch-Irish  immigration,  in  South, 
85 ;  New  Hampshire,  91  ;  Vir- 
ginia, 100. 

Seeker,  Thomas  (Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury), pupil  of  Sain.  Jones  at 
Gloucester,  167. 

Secondary  schools,  defined,  1  f.  ; 
statistics  of,  for  1899-1900,  see 
Appendix  A,  467-472. 

Secret  societies  in  sec.  ss.,  244. 

"Self-government"  in  h.  ss.,  431-432. 

Seneca,  in  Milton's  proposed  cur- 
riculum, 158 

Sergeantville,  N.  J.,  Mantua  Manual 
Labor  Institute,  337. 

Seton  (Mrs.),  organized  American 
Society  of  Sisters  of  Charity, 
327. 

Sewall  (Judge),  Diary,  quoted,  113, 
176. 

Shattuck,  (Dr.)  George  Cheyne, 
founder  St.  Paul's  S.,  Concord, 
N.  H.,  395. 

Shattuck  School,  Faribault,  Minn., 
397. 

Shepard,  J.  J.,  prin.  H.  S.  of 
Commerce,  New  York  City, 
405. 

"Shepherd's  Tent,"  New  London, 
Conn.,  92. 

Shurtleff  College,  111.,  222. 

Sill,  Edward  Rowland,  teacher  in 
h.  s.,  Oakland,  Cal.,  423  f.  n. 

Sims,  Win  G.,  247. 

Sisters  of  Charity,  American  Society, 
schools,  327. 

Slater,  Wm.  A.,  benefactor  of  Nor- 
wich, Conn.,  Free  Acad.,  315. 

Smith,  Gen.  Francia  H.,  head  of 
Virginia  Military  Institute,  334. 

Smith,  (Rev.)  Wm.,  master  Philo- 
sophical School,  and  Provost 
Public  Acad.,  Philadelphia.  184. 


544 


INDEX 


Social  distinctions,  colonial,  107,  228, 
347. 

Social  organizations  in  ss.,  432. 

Society  for  tho  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  81  f., 
96,  103,  105. 

Solinus,  in  Milton's  proposed  curric- 
ulum, 158. 

Sollers,  Basil,  quoted,  100. 

Somersworth,  N.  II.,  II.  S,  founda- 
tion, 354. 

Song  schools  (England),  17th  century, 
19. 

Soule,  Gideon  Lane,  prin.  Phillips 
Exeter  Acad.,  260-261. 

Southborough,  Mass.,  St.  Mark's  S., 
396. 

South  Carolina  (Colony)  School  Sys- 
tem, 96  f. 

South  Carolina  (State)  School  Sys- 
tem, 202,  225,  491,  493,  494,  495. 

South  Carolina  College,  foundation, 
292. 

South  Carolina  Military  Academy, 
Columbia  and  Charlestown,  foun- 
dation, 334,  512. 

Spanish  language,  study  of,  author- 
ized in  California  h.  ss.,  355 ; 
in  Franklin's  Proposals,  182;  in 
Girard  College,  345. 

Spelling  in  h.  ss,  307. 

Sports  of  school  children,  colonial, 
138,  139,  180;  in  academies, 
245,  396,  433,  450  ;  in  h.  ss.,  432, 
434,  435. 

Springfield,  N.  J.,  Gr.  S.,  201. 

State  control  of  schools,  143.  151, 
204,  293 ;  chapters  X.,  XIII.,  and 
XVI.,  passim.  See  also  the 
names  of  states. 

State  control  of  universities  and  col- 
leges, 281-283,  284,  291. 

State  control  of  industrial  corpora- 
tions, 293. 

State  inspection  of  sec.  ss,  367,  374, 
377,  378. 

State  support  of  sec.  ss.,  Acad.: 
Mass.,  217,  224,  242  ;  Kentucky, 
220;  Maryland,  218,  225  ;  Michi- 


gan, 214;  Penn.,  218;  Tenn., 
219;  Indiana,  220;  Illinois,  221, 
222  ;  New  York  (h.  ss.  and  acad- 
emies), 224,  362,  363.  High 
Schools:  Conn.,  352;  Minn., 
366,  367 ;  Wisconsin,  365 ;  of 
universities,  281,  288,  291,  370. 

State  systems  of  education,  see  chap- 
ters X.  and  XVI. ;  see  also  names 
of  individual  states. 

State  universities,  growth,  370; 
origin,  280,  291,  292.  See  also 
names  of  states. 

Stiles,  Ezra,  prcs.  Yale  College, 
Literary  Diary,  quoted,  115. 

Story,  (Justice)  Joseph,  opinion  in 
Girard  Will  Case,  344. 

Stowe,  Calvin  E.,  report  on  German 
schools.  338. 

Student  organizations,  244,  432-433, 
450. 

Student  publications,  434. 

Sugar  Creek  Presbyterian  Church, 
near  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  Classical 
S.,  foundation  c  1766,  99. 

Sulpitians,  order  of,  seminary  at 
Baltimore,  326  ;  St.  Mary's  Col- 
lege, 326. 

Surveying,  study  of,  in  acad.,  233, 
238;  in  colonial  gr.  ss.,  134;  in 
h.  ss.,  301,  353,  354. 

Swift,  Jonathan,  in  Franklin's  Sketch, 
189. 

Syms,  Benjamin,  founder  of  gr.  a.  at 
Elizabeth  City  and  Kiquotion, 
49,  149. 

Syms'  Free  School,  Va.,  99  ;  corpora- 
tion, 149. 

TALLAHASSEE,  Fla.,  West  Florida 
Seminary,  223. 

Talleyrand,  210  f.  n. 

Tappan,  Henry  P.,  pres.  University 
of  Michigan,  definition  of  a 
university,  351  f.  n. ;  imitated 
German  university  organization, 
338;  on  relation  of  univ.  to  sec. 
ss.,  377  ;  report  to  Regents,  1856, 
quoted,  350. 


INDEX 


545 


Tate,  (Rev.)  James,  founder  class,  s., 
Wilmington,  N.  C.,  c.  1760,  98. 

Taunton  (Mass.)  Acad.,  200. 

Taxation  (for  school  support),  local, 
Dorchester,  Mass.,  39;  Mass., 
18th  cent.,  143. 

Taylor,  Christopher,  master  of  gr.  s. 
at  Walstam  Abbey,  Pa.,  at 
Tinicum  Island,  54. 

Taylor,  Samuel  II.,  prin.  Phillips 
Andover  Acad.,  266. 

Teachers  of  sec.  ss.,  training  and 
preparation,  250,  251,  428,  429, 
443,  444,  445,  446,  447.  See  also 
names  of  individual  teachers. 

Temple,  (Sir)  Wm.,  Letters,  in  Frank- 
lin's Sketch,  189. 

Tenneut,  (Rev.)  William,  founder  of 
the  "  Log  College,"  88,  89,  117. 

Tennessee,  Legislature  of  1817,  pro- 
claims purpose  of  maintaining 
complete  state  system  of  educa- 
tion, 349;  School  System,  219, 
493. 

Terence,  read  in  Tewkesbury  Acad. 
(Eng.),  168. 

Tetlow,  John,  413. 

Tewkesbury  (Eng.),  academy  at,  167 ; 
curriculum,  168. 

Thacher,  (Rev.)  Thomas,  quoted,  239, 
426. 

Thayer,  Gideon  F.,  found.  Chauncy 
Hall  S.,  Boston,  Mass.,  340,  517. 

Thayer,  (Major)  Sylvanus,  supt. 
West  Point  Academy,  332. 

Theological  Seminaries,  Protestant, 
256.  See  also  Roman  Catholic 
schools. 

Theophrastus,  in  Milton's  proposed 
curriculum,  158. 

Thompson,  (Gov.)  Hugh  S.,  pupil  at 
South  Carolina  Military  Acad., 
334. 

Thring,  Edward,  448. 

Thucydides,  studied  in  Ameri.  acad., 
263. 

Tibullus,  read  in  Amer.  sec.  ss.,  277. 

Ticknor,  George,  studied  at  Got- 
tingen,  338. 


Tillotson,  in  Franklin's  Sketch,  189. 

Tisdale,  Nathan,  master  gr.  s.  at 
Lebanon,  Conn.,  93,  517. 

Toledo,  Ohio,  Manual  Training 
S.,  401. 

Toleration  Act,  1689  (English),  162. 

Tome  Institute.  See  Jacob  Tome 
Institute. 

Tooke,  Home,  Pantheon,  277. 

Townsend,  George  Alfred,  pupil  Cen- 
tral H.  S.,  Philadelphia,  434. 

Trade  schools,  401-402,  403,  460. 

Trenton,  N.  J.,  Acad.,  201. 

Trigonometry,  study  of,  in  Amer. 
acad.,  238,  277 ;  in  English 
acad.,  171  ;  in  h.  ss.,  301,  417, 
419. 

Trinity  Church,  New  York,  N.  Y., 
283. 

Trinity  College,  Washington,  D.  C., 
foundation,  330. 

Troy,  N.  Y.,  Troy  Seminary,  254, 
512. 

Tuition  fees  in  schools  :  Acad.,  295  ; 
Boston  Latin  S.,  37 ;  colonial 
gr.  ss.,  143;  Georgetown  Acad., 
325 ;  Louisiana  acad.,  212  ;  Phila- 
delphia Public  Acad.,  184;  pri- 
vate ss.,  340  ;  St.  Paul's  S.,  Con- 
cord, N.  H.,  396. 

Turgot,  educational  theory  of,  204. 

Tutors,  private  (colonial),  118. 

UNION  SCHOOL,  meaning  of  the  term, 

302. 

Unitarian  movement,  239. 
U.  S.  Government,  relations  to  state 

school  systems,  215. 

VALPEY'S  Greek  Grammar,  237  ;  Ele- 
gantice  Latince,  277. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Stephen,  founder  of 
Van  Rensselaer  Inst.,  quoted, 
419-420. 

Varro,  in  Milton's  proposed  curricu- 
lum, 158. 

Vermont,  School  System,  224,  367, 
489. 

Vergil,  college  entrance  requirement, 


35 


546 


INDEX 


231  ;  study  of,  in  Amer.  acad., 
237,  246,  271,  277  ;  colonial  gr. 
ss.,  128,  129,  130,  132,  272;  in 
English,  in  Frankliu's  Sketch, 
189. 

Virginia  (Colony),  foundation  and 
early  hist,  of  gr.  ss.,  32  f.,  48  f. ; 
school  corporations,  149  ;  School 
System,  99  f. 

Virginia  (State),  School  System,  201, 
208,  225,  491,  497. 

Virginia  Company,  32  f. 

Virginia  Military  Institute,  Lex- 
ington, Va.,  foundation,  334, 
513. 

Virginia,  University  of,  208,  292. 

Viri  Roma;,  read  in  acad.,  237,  277. 

Visitations,  Amer.  colleges,  145,  282, 
289;  English  colleges,  144;  New 
England  ss.  149. 

Vitruvius,  in  Milton's  proposed  cur- 
riculum, 158. 

Voltaire,  educational  theory,  204. 

WADDEL,  Moses,  master  of  school 
at  Willington,  S.  C.,  249,  270, 
271. 

Wake  Forest,  N.  C.,  Manual  Labor 
S.,  337. 

Walsh,  Robert,  his  poem  on  occasion 
of  Washington's  visit  to  George- 
town, 326. 

Warren,  (Dr.)  Joseph,  master  Rox- 
bury  Gr.  S.,  122. 

Warren,  Matthew,  master  of  acad.  at 
Taunton,  Eng.,  169. 

Warren,  R.  I.,  University  Gr.  S., 
foundation,  101. 

Warrenton,  N.  C.,  Acad.,  201. 

Wase,  Christopher,  Free  schools  in 
England,  25  f .,  30. 

Washington,  Bushrod,  his  sons  at- 
tended Georgetown  Acad.,  326. 

Washington,  George,  193,  235,  261 ; 
attended  acad.  at  Fredericks- 
burg,  99;  visits  Georgetown 
Acad.  326  ;  correspondence  with 
Dr.  Boucher,  120. 

Washington  Acad.,  Carlyle,  111 ,  221. 


Washington      Acad.,      Hackensack, 

N.  J.,  foundation,  201. 
Washington    Acad.,   Somerset    Co., 

Md.,  192,  201. 

Washington  College  (Md.),  218. 
Washington,     Conn.,     The     "  Gun- 
nery," 340. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Trinity  College, 
330;  Business  H.  S.,  405. 

Washington  (Pa.)  Acad.,  201. 

Watson,  (Rev.)  John,  quoted,  127. 

Watts,  Isaac,  pupil  at  academy, 
Newington  (Eng.),  165,  Ibb; 
Free  philosophy,  quoted,  173. 
174;  life,  178;  Improvement  <>t 
the  mind,  232,  254;  influence  on 
Doddridge,  170;  poems,  19.3, 
194. 

Wayne,  (Gen.)  Anthony,  235. 

Webster,  Daniel,  pupil  at  Phillips 
Ex.,  198;  counsel  in  Dartmouth 
College  Case,  289 ;  counsel  in 
Girard  Will  Case,  345  ;  presided 
at  celebration  in  honor  of  Dr. 
Abbott,  260. 

Webster,  Noah,  on  "  academies  for 
young  ladies,"  330;  American 
selection,  236. 

Weld,  Daniel,  received  grant  of  laud 
from  General  Court,  Mass.,  70. 

Wesley,  (Rev.)  John,  supervisor  at 
school  at  Kingswood,  Eng.,  172. 

Wesley,  (Rev.)  Samuel,  controversy 
with  Sam.  Palmer,  163,  178. 

West  India  Company  (Dutch),  action 
regarding  schools  in  New  Neth- 
erlands (N".  Y.),  £1. 

Westford  (Mass.)  Acad.,  253,  514. 

Westminster  Catechism,  264. 

West  Point,  U.  S.  Military  Acad- 
emy, foundation  and  early  his- 
tory, 332,  512,  513. 

Wheeler,  Benjamin  Ide,  pres.  Uni- 
versity Cal.,  quoted,  464. 

Wheel ock,  (Rev.)  Eleazar,  first  pres. 
Dartmouth  College,  91  ;  head  of 
Moor's  Indian  Charity  School, 
93 ;  taught  husbandry  to  stu- 
dents, 336. 


INDEX 


647 


White,  Richard  Grant,  pupil  at  St. 
Paul's  College,  Flushing,  L.  I., 
394. 

Whitefield,  (Rev.)  George,  founder 
of  Orphan  House,  Bethesda, 
Ga.,  86,  101,  172,  176,  182-190, 
194. 

Whitestown,  N.  Y.,  Manual  Labor 
School,  337. 

Whitman,  H.  C.,  quoted,  259. 

Whitney,  A.  S.,  prof.  University  of 
Michigan;  member  of  Board 
of  Inspectors  of  North  Central 
Assn.  Colleges  and  Ss.,  391. 

Wight,  John  G.,  prin.  Wadleigh 
H.  S.,  New  York  City,  407. 

Willard  (Mrs.)  John  (Emma  Hart), 
founder  of  Troy  Seminary,  254, 
330,  517,  518. 

William  and  Mary  College,  82,  151, 
154,292,  514;  entrance  require- 
ments, 1727, 129  ;  foundation,  50 ; 
organization,  146;  Grammar  S. 
rules,  138,  139. 

Williamsborough  (N.  C.)  Acad.,  201. 

Williamstown  (Mass.)  Acad.,  200. 

Willington,  S.  C.,  Dr.  Waddel's 
School,  270. 

Willis,  N.  P.,  247. 

Wilmerding,  J.  Clute,  founder  of 
Trade  S.,  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
402. 

Wilmington,  N.  C.  Classical  S., 
foundation,  98. 

Winterbothara,  W.,  View  of  the 
American  United  States,  quoted, 
199-202,  203. 

Wisconsin,  County  Schools  of  Agri- 
culture and  Domestic  Economy, 
365  ;  School  System,  215,  488, 
496,  497 ;  h.  s.  system  estab- 
lished, 364-365. 


Wisconsin,  University  of,  relations 
to  h.  s.,  365. 

Witherspoon,  John,  pres.  Princeton 
College,  121,  272,  273. 

Woodbridge,  Wm.,  first  principal 
Phillips  Exeter  Acad.,  198,  234  f. 
n.,  253. 

Woodburn  (Dr.),  quoted,  220,  221. 

Woodhouse,  John,  master  of  Acad. 
at  Sheriff  hales  (Eng.),  163. 

Writing,  study  of,  in  acad.,  265  ;  in 
gr.  s.,  134 ;  in  h.  s.  307 ;  in 
Franklin's  Proposals,  180. 

Writing  Schools  (England),  seven- 
teenth century;  19 ;  America, 
243,  276. 

Wyndham,  Conn.,  Acad.,  200. 

Wyttenbach,  Daniel,  Greek  Histo- 
rians, 277. 

XENIA,  O.,  Theological  Seminary, 
256. 

Xenophon,  study  of,  in  acad.,  277 ; 
in  colleges,  133 ;  in  gr.  s.,  colo- 
nial, 132. 

YALE  College,  107,  146,  248,  266- 
267  ;  state  control,  281-283,  288 ; 
entrance  requirements,  1745, 129  ; 
relations  with  pres.  of  Pa.  Syno- 
dal School,  102,  103. 

Yorktown  (Pa.)  Acad.,  201. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
evening  classes,  403. 

ZARNCKE,   Fr.,   Der    Deutsche    Cato, 

153. 
Zinzendorf,     Count,     proprietor     of 

Manor  of  Nazareth,  Pa.,  visit  to 

America,  86. 
Zinzendorf,  Countess,  190. 


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